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FOLLOWING THE FLAG. 


From August, 1861, to November, 1862, 


WITH THE 


ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, 


By “CARLETON,” 


AUTHOR OF ‘‘MY DAYS AND NIGHTS ON THE BATTLE-FIELD.” 


BOSTON: 
ao Ook N OR A Nao rh BS: 
Toms, 


ee 


Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by 
CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN, 
in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts. 


UNIVERSITY PRESS: 
WELCH, BIGELOW, AND COMPANY, 
CAMBRIDGE. 


” 
7 
. 


I 
lop,.2 PREFACE. 


T will be many years before a complete history 
of the operations of the armies of the Union ~ 
can be written; but that is not a sufficient reason 
why historical pictures may not now be painted 
from such materials as have come to hand. This 


volume, therefore, is a sketch of the operations 


865° 


of the Army of the Potomac from August, 1861, 
to November, 1862, while commanded by Gener- 


- 
ows 


al McClellan. To avoid detail, the organization 
of the army is given in an Appendix. It has not 
been possible, in a book of this size, to give the 
movements of regiments; but the narrative has 


Arak $2 A iecled 


Gy been limited to the operations of brigades and di- 
visions. It will be comparatively easy, however, 
P for the reader to ascertain the general position 
© of any regiment in the different battles, by con- 
$ sulting the Appendix in connection with the 
“2 narrative. 


ie 


a 


“ 
; 
> 
a 
a 
rap 
aw 


CONTENTS. 


—_—@o—_ 
Page 
INTRODUCTORY ; ds A A 7 “ : : i ir 
CuAp. I. ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC 8 
I. BALw’s BLUFF . ‘ : ; : : . LT 


Ill. BATTLE oF DRANESVILLE, AND THE WINTER OF 1862 37 


IV. Srece oF YORKTOWN oH aan (POR fe? Vo ge DO 
VY. BATTLE oF WILLIAMSBURG . ‘ : : ; 70 
VI. ON THE CHICKAHOMINY . : ‘ ' : 800 
AFFAIR AT HANOVER CourRT-HousE . P 92 

VII. Farr Oaxs : ; , ; : ; : 217198 
VIll. S—EvEN Days oF FIGHTING . - : ; 122 
BATTLE OF MECHANICSVILLE . - ; - 125 

BATTLE OF GAINES’s MILLS . ; : : 130 
MOVEMENT TO JAMES RIVER . - ; vy LLOe 

BATTLE OF SAVAGE STATION - : : 140 

BATTLE OF GLENDALE . : ; : . 142 

a BATTLE OF MALVERN . - ‘ ; 149 
IX. AFFAIRS IN FRONT OF WASHINGTON. : « VIS 
BATTLE OF CEDAR MOUNTAIN ‘ ° ; 160 

X. BATTLE OF GROVETON . . = : ‘ - 169 
THE RETREAT TO WASHINGTON . ; : 181 

XI. Invasion oF MARYLAND . : : ; ; . 188 
BARBARA FRIETCHIE . E \ ; : 185 


BATTLE OF SoutH MounraAIn . x ‘ ny key 


v1 CONTENTS. 


XII. BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. ‘ : : - 208 
Hooker’s ATTACK . , ‘ : ; : 217 
SuMNER’s ATTACK . ; 5 ? ‘ . 226 
THe ATTACK UPON THE CENTRE . ; - 240 
BURNSIDE’S ATTACK . : : ; : . 257 

XII. AFTER THE BATTLE . ; ‘ : t : 279 


XIV. Tot MARcH FROM HARPER’S FERRY TO WARRENTON 294 


REMOVAL OF GENERAL MCCLELLAN ; . 816 
APPENDIX. 
THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, 
APRIL, “1863 Or Sy es ne i ae de ee 
ed 


a 


LIST OF DIAGRAMS. 


Page 
BALL’s BLUFF . P : : : ‘ ‘ ; - vee an 
BATTLE OF DRANESVILLE . ; ; : ° ‘ - 40 
BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG . : ‘ ; : ‘ dieu & 
BATTLE OF FAIR OAKS ; ; - ‘ - : : 101 
BATTLE OF MECHANICSVILLE . ‘ ; 3 ¢ ; yp REY: 
BATTLE OF GAINES’s MILLS. P : - ; : 131 
BATTLE OF GLENDALE . , . ‘ : : : 145 
BATTLE OF MALVERN . ‘ ‘ : , ; ‘ : 152 
BATTLE OF GROVETON . - , ; ; : : se lta 
BATTLE-FIELD OF ANTIETAM ? : j ‘ ; é 209 
SEDGWICK’s ATTACK - : Cf. : ; > . 280 
FRENCH’s AND RICHARDSON’s ATTACK ‘ : , . 242 


BURNSIDE’S SECOND ATTACK . : : ‘ 2 ; 5p ONAL 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 


THE QUAKER GUN . : : cai we . Frontispiece 
DEATH OF COLONEL BAKER ; : : ; ; . Page 28 
THE BAPTISM . 7 : : ; : j B : <- er 
RALLY OF THE S1cK MEN . : ‘ ; 2 7 109 
DESTRUCTION OF THE TRAIN . : Beams f! : ; - 188 
BARBARA FRIETCHIE . : : ; A ° 5 . 186 
THE SUNKEN ROAD . F ; A : : ; : . 246 
BURNSIDE’S CHARGE . : eae ; : . ; 264 


FOLLOWING THE FLAG. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


Battles I have witnessed. 


OR more than three years I have followed 

the flag of our country in the East and in 
the West and in the South, — on the ocean, on 
the land, and on the great rivers. A year ago 
I gave in a volume entitled ‘My Days and . 
Nights on the Battle-Field ” a description of the 
Battle of Bull Run, and other battles in Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee, and on the Mississippi. 

It has been my privilege to witness nearly all 
the great battles fought by the Army of the Poto- 
mac, — Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, 
at the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, the North Anna, 
Coal Harbor, and at Petersburg. Letters have 
been received from those who are strangers to 
me as well as from friends, expressing a.desire 


1 A 


2 INTRODUCTORY. 


Why this volume is written. 


that I should give a connected account, not only 
of the operations of that army, from its organ- 
ization, but of other armies; also of the glorious 
achievements of the navy in this great struggle 
of our country for national existence. The pres- 
ent volume, therefore, will be the second of the 
contemplated series. 

During the late campaign in Virginia, many 
facts and incidents were obtained which give an 
insight into the operations of the armies of the 
South, not before known. Time. will undoubt- 
edly reveal other important facts, which will be 
made use of in the future. It will be my en- 
deavor to sift from the immense amount of ma- 
terial already accumulated a concise and trust- 
worthy account, that we may know how our 
patriot brothers have fought to save the country 
and to secure to all who may live after them the 
blessings of a free government. 


CHAPTER I. 


ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. 


The Effect of the Battle of Bull Run. The Feeling at the North. 


HE battle of Bull Run, or of Manassas, as 
the Rebels call it, which was fought on the 

21st of July, 1861, was the first great battle of 
the war. It was disastrous to the Union army. 
But the people of the North were not disheart- 
ened by it. Their pride was mortified, for they 
had confidently expected a victory, and had not 
taken into consideration the possibility of a de- 
feat. The victory was all but won, as has been 
narrated in ‘“* My Days and Nights on the Battle- 
Field,’ when the arrival of a brigade of Rebels 
and the great mistake of Captain Barry, who 
supposed them to be Union troops, turned the 
scale, and the battle was lost to the Union army. 
But the people of the North, who loved the 
Union, could not think of giving up the contest, 
—of having the country divided, and the old 
flag trailed in the dust. They felt that it would 
be impossible to live peaceably side by side with 
those who declared themselves superior to the 
laboring men of the Free States, and were their 


“\ 


- 


4 ORGANIZATION OF THE 


What the Slaveholders wanted. What General Polk said. 


rightful masters. They were not willing to ac- 
knowledge that the slaveholders were their mas- 
ters. They felt that there could not be friendship 
and amity between themselves and a nation which 
had declared that slavery was its corner-stone. 
Besides all this, the slaveholders wanted Mary- 
land, Kentucky, and Missouri in the Southern 
Confederacy, while the majority of the people of 
those States wanted to stay in the Union. The 
Rebels professed that they were willing that each 
State should choose for itself, but they were 
insincere and treacherous in their professions. 
Kentucky would not join the Confederacy ; there- 
fore they invaded the State to compel the people 
to forsake the old flag. 

A gentleman from Ohio accompanied a South- 
ern lady to Columbus, on the Mississippi, to see 
her safely among her friends. General Polk was 
commander of the Rebel forces at that place, and 
they talked about the war. 

‘“‘] wish it might be settled,” said the General. 

‘“¢ How will you settle ?” 

““Q, all we ask is to have all that belongs to 
us, and to be let alone.”’ 

‘¢ What belongs to you?” 

‘“‘ All that has always been acknowledged as 
ours.” 

‘¢Do you want Missouri ?” 

* Yes, that is ours.” 


ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. 5 


The Children of the South. What a Little Girl said about ** Old Scrubs.” 


** Do you want Kentucky ?” 

“Yes, certainly. The Ohio River has always 
been considered as the boundary line.” 

‘** But Kentucky don’t want you.” 

*¢ We must have her.” 

‘¢ You want all of Virginia ?” 

‘¢Of course.” 

“You want Maryland ?” 

*¢ Most certainly.” 

*¢ What will you do with Washington ?”’ 

“We don’t want it. Remove it if you want 
to; but Maryland is ours.” * 

Such was the conversation ; and this feeling, 
. that they must have all the Slave States to form 
a great slaveholding confederacy, was universal 
in the South. | 

Besides this, they held the people in the Free 
States in contempt. Even the children of the 
South were so influenced by the system of slavery 
that they thought themselves ‘superior to the 
people of the Free States who worked for a 
living. 

I heard a girl, who was not more than ten 
years old, say that the Northern people were all 
“old scrubs”! Not to be a scrub was to own 
slaves, —to work them hard and pay them noth- 
ing,—to sell them, to raise children for the 
market, — to separate mothers from their babes, 


* Ohio State Journal. 


4 


6 ORGANIZATION OF THE 


Southern Enthusiasm. The Feeling atthe South. General McClellan. 


wives from their husbands,—to live solely for 
their own interests, happiness, and pleasure, with- 
out regard to the natural rights of others. This 
little girl, although her mother kept a boarding- 
house, felt that she-was too good to play with 
Northern children, or if she noticed them at all, 
it was as a superior. 

Feeling themselves the superiors of the North- 
ern people, having been victorious at Manassas, 
the people of the South became enthusiastic for 
continuing the war. Thousands of volunteers 
joined the Rebels already in arms. Before the 
summer of 1861 had passed General Johnston 
had a large army in front of Washington, which 
was called the Army of the Potomac. 

At the same time thousands rushed to arms 
in the North. They saw clearly that there was 
but one course to pursue, — to fight it out, de- 
feat the Rebels, vindicate their honor, and save 
‘ the country. 

The Union army which gathered at Washing- 
ton was also styled the Army of the Potomac. 
Many of the soldiers who fought at Manassas 
were three months’ men. As their terms of 
service expired their places were filled by men 
who enlisted for three years, if not sooner dis- 
charged. 

General George B. McClellan, who with Gen- 
eral Rosecrans had been successful:, ‘conducting 


ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. 7 


The People wanted a Leader. General McClellan’s Plan of Operations, 


the war in Western Virginia, was called to 
Washington to organize an army which, it was 
hoped, would defeat the Rebels, and move on to 
Richmond. 

The people wanted a leader. General Scott, 
who had fought at Niagara and Lundy’s Lane, 
who had captured the city of Mexico, was too 
old and infirm to take the field. General Mc- 
Dowell, although his plan of attack at Bull Run 
was approved, had failed of victory. General 
McClellan had been successful in the skirmishes 
at Phillippi and at Rich Mountain. He was 
known to be a good engineer. He had been a 
visitor to Russia during the Crimean war, and 
had written a book upon that war, which was 
published by Congress. He was a native of 
Pennsylvania and a resident of Ohio when the 
war broke out. The governors of both of those 
States sent him a commission as a brigadier-gen- 
eral, because he had had military experience in 
Mexico, and because he was known as a military 
man, and because they were in great need of ex- 
perienced men to command the troops. Having 
all these things in his favor, he was called to 
Washington and made commander of the Army 
of the Potomac on the 27th of July. 

He immediately submitted a plan of operations 
to the President for suppressing the rebellion. 
He thought that if Kentucky remained loyal, 


8 ORGANIZATION OF THE 


What he intended to do. The Earnestness of the People. 


twenty thousand men moving down the Missis- 
sippi would be sufficient to quell the rebellion 
in the West. Western Virginia could be held 
by five or ten thousand more. He would have 
ten thousand protect the Baltimore and Ohio 
Railroad and the Potomac ‘River, five thousand 
at Baltimore, twenty thousand at Washington, 
and three thousand at Fortress Monroe. One 
grand army for active operations was needed, 
to consist of two hundred and twenty-five thou- 
sand infantry, six hundred pieces of field artillery, 
twenty-five thousand cavalry, and seven thousand 
five hundred engineers, making a total of two 
hundred and seventy-three thousand men. In 
his letter to the President, General McClellan 
says: “I propose, with the force which I have 
requested, not only to drive the enemy out of 
Virginia, and occupy Richmond, but to occupy 
Charleston, Savannah, Montgomery, Pensacola, 
Mobile, and New Orleans; in other words, to 
move into the heart of the enemy’s country, 
and crush the rebellion in its very heart.” * 
It was found a very difficult matter to obtain 
arms for the soldiers; for President Buchanan’s 
Secretary of War, Floyd, had sent most of the 
arms in Northern arsenals to the South before 
the war commenced. But, notwithstanding this, 
so earnest were the people, and so energetic the 


* General McClellan’s Report, p. 4. 


ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. 9 


The Rebel Army. The Rebels near Washington. 


government, that on the Ist of October, two 
months from the time that General McClellan 
took command, there were one hundred and 
sixty-eight thousand men in the Army of the 
Potomac, with two hundred and twenty pieces 
of artillery; besides this, the government had 
a large army in Kentucky, and another in Mis- 
souri. The Rebels had large armies in those 
States, and were making great efforts to secure 
them to the Confederacy. It was not possible to 
send all the troops to Washington, as General 
McClellan desired. 

The Rebel army was commanded by General 
Joseph HE. Johnston. He had about seventy thou- 
sand men, with his head-quarters at Manassas. 
Some of the spies which were sent out by Gen- 
eral McClellan reported a much larger force under 
Johnston, and General McClellan believed that 
he had one hundred and fifty thousand men. 
Strong fortifications were erected to defend Wash- 
ington ; General Johnston wished very much to 
take the city, and the people of the South ex- 
pected that he would gain possession of it and 
drive out the hated Yankees. He pushed his 
troops almost up to General McClellan’s lines, 
taking possession of Munson’s Hill, which is 
only five miles from the Long Bridge at Wash- 
ington. 

The Rebels erected breastworks upon the hill, 


1 ¥ 


10 ORGANIZATION OF THE 


Munson’s Hill. The Generals examining the Position. 


and threw shot and shells almost to Arlington 
House. From the hill they could see the spires 
of the city of Washington, the white dome of 
the capitol, and its marble pillars. No doubt they 
longed to have it in their possession ; but there 
were thousands of men in arms and hundreds 
of cannon and a wide river between them and 
the city. | 

One bright October morning I rode to Bailey’s 
Cross-roads, which is about a mile from Munson’s 
Hill. Looking across a.cornfield, I could see the 
Rebels behind their breastworks. Their battle- 
flags were waving gayly. Their bayonets gleamed 
in the sunshine. <A group of officers had gath- 
ered on the summit of the hill. With my field- 
glass, I could see what they were doing. They 
examined maps, looked towards Washington, and 
pointed out the position of the Union fortifica- 
tions. There were ladies present, who looked 
earnestly towards the city, and chatted merrily 
with the officers. A few days after, I saw in a 
Richmond paper that the officers were Generals . 
Lee, Beauregard, and Johnston, and that one of 
the ladies was Mrs. Lee. 

General Lee was within sight of his old home; 
but he had become a traitor to his country, and it 
was to be his nomore. Never again would he sit 
in the spacious parlors, or walk the verdant lawn, 
or look upon the beautiful panorama of city and 


ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. 11 


Arlington. General Lee. How he became a Traitor. 


country, forest and field, hill and valley, land 
and water,— upon the ripened wheat on the 
hillside or the waving corn in the meadows, — 
upon the broad Potomac, gleaming in the sun- 
shine, or upon the white-winged ships sailing 
upon its bosom, — upon'the city, with its mag- 
nificent buildings, upon the marble shaft rising 
to the memory of Washington, or upon the out- 
line of the hills of Bladensburg, faint and dim in 
the distance. 

He joined the rebellion because he believed 
that a state was more than the nation, that Vir- 
ginia was greater than the Union, that she had 
a right to leave it, and was justified in seceding 
from it. He belonged to an old family, which, 
when Virginia was a colony of Great Britain, had 
influence and power. He owned many slaves. . 
He believed that the institution of slavery was 
right. He left the Union to serve Virginia, re- 
signed his command as colonel of cavalry, which 
he held under the United States. He accepted a 
commission from Jefferson Davis, forswore his 
allegiance to his country, turned his back upon 
the old flag, proved recreant in the hour of trial, 
and became an enemy to the nation which had 
trusted and honored him. 

The summer passed away and the golden 
months of autumn came round. The troops 
were organized into brigades and divisions. They 


12 ORGANIZATION OF THE 


The Army in Camp. Dress Parade. The Old Flag. 


were drilled daily. In the morning at six o’clock 
the drummers beat the reveille. The soldiers 
sprang to their feet at the sound, and formed in 
company lines to answer the roll-call. Then they 
had breakfast of hard-tack and eoffee. After 
breakfast the guards were sent out. At eight 
o’clock there were company drills in marching, 
in handling their muskets, in charging bayonet, 
and resisting an imaginary onset from the enemy. 
At twelve o’clock they had dinner, — more hard- 
tack, pork or beef, or rice and molasses. In the 
afternoon there were regimental, brigade, and 
sometimes division drills, —the men carrying 
their knapsacks, canteens, haversacks, and blank- 
ets, —just as if they were on the march. At 
sunset each regiment had a dress parade. Then 
each soldier was expected to be in his best trim. 
In well-disciplined regiments, all wore white 
gloves when they appeared on dress parade. It 
was a fine sight, —the long line of men in blue, 
the ranks straight and even, each soldier doing 
his best. Marching proudly to the music of the 
band, the light of the setting sun falling aslant 
upon their bright bayonets, and the flag they 
loved waving above them, thrilling them with re- 
membrances of the glorious deeds of their fathers, 
who bore it aloft at Saratoga, Trenton, and 
Princeton, at Queenstown and New Orleans, 
at Buena Vista and Chepultepec, who beneath 


ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. is 


Evenings in Camp. The Army asleep. 


its endearing folds laid the foundations of the 
nation and secured the rights of civil and re- 
ligious liberty. Each soldier felt that he would 
be an unworthy son, if traitors and rebels were 
permitted to overthrow a government which had 
cost so much sacrifice and blood and treasure, 
and which was the hope of the oppressed through- 
out all the world. 

In the evening there were no military duties to 
be performed, and the soldiers told stories around 
the camp-fires, or sang songs, or had a dance; 
for in each company there was usually one who 
could play the violin. Many merry times they 
had. Some sat in their tents and read the news- 
papers or whatever they could find to interest 
them, with a bayonet stuck in the ground for a 
candlestick. There were some who, at home, had 
attended the Sabbath school. Although in camp, 
they did not forget what they had left behind. 
The Bible was precious to them.. They read its 
sacred pages and treasured its holy truths. Some- 
times they had a prayer-meeting, and asked 
God to bless them, the friends they had left 
behind, and the country for which they were 
ready to die, if need be, to save it from destruc- 
tion. 

But at the tap of the drum at nine o’clock 
the laughter, the songs, the dances, the stories, 
the readings, and the prayer-meetings, all were 


14 ORGANIZATION OF THE 


Thinking Men. _A Grand Review. 


brought to a close, the lights were put out, and 
silence reigned throughout. the camp, broken only 
by the step of the watchful sentinel. 

The soldiers soon grew weary of this monot- 
ony. They had been accustomed to an active 
life. It was an army different from any ever 
before organized. It was composed in a great 
degree of thinking men. Many of them were 
leading citizens in the towns where they lived. 
They were well educated and were refined in 
their manners. They knew there was to be 
hard fighting and a desperate contest, that many 
never would return to their homes, but would 
find their graves upon the field of battle; yet 
they were ready to meet the enemy, and waited 
impatiently for orders to march. 

There were grand reviews of troops during 
the fall, by which the officers and soldiers be- 
came somewhat accustomed to moving in large 
bodies. All of the troops which could be spared 
from the fortifications and advanced positions, 
were brought together at Bailey’s Cross-roads, 
after the Rebels evacuated Munson’s Hill, to be 
reviewed by the President and General McClel- 
lan. There were seventy thousand men. It 
was a grand sight. Hach regiment tried to 
outdo all others in its appearance and its march- 
ing. They moved by companies past the Pres- 
ident, bands playing national airs, the drums 


ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. 15 


The Army waiting. The Potomac blockaded. 


beating, and the flags waving. There were sey- 
eral hundred pieces of artillery, and several 
thousand cavalrymen. The ground shook be- 
neath the steady marching of the great mass 
of men, and the tread of thousands of hoofs. 
It was the finest military display ever seen in 
America. 

It was expected that the army would soon 
move upon the enemy. General McClellan, in a 
letter to the President, advised that the advance 
should not be postponed later than the 25th of 
November. The time passed rapidly. The roads 
were smooth and hard. The days were golden 
with sunshine, and the stars shone from a cloud- 
less sky at night; but there were no movements 
during the month, except reconnoissances by 
brigades and divisions. 

The Rebels erected batteries on the south side 
of the Potomac, below the Occoquan, and block- 
aded it. They had destroyed the Baltimore and 
Ohio Railroad and the Chesapeake Canal, so that 
the Union army and the city of Washington were 
dependent on the one line of railroad to, Balti- 
more for all its supplies. It was very desirable 
that the Potomac should be opened. General 
Hooker, who commanded a division at Budd’s 
Ferry, wished very much to attack the Rebels, 
with the aid of the navy, and capture the bat- 
teries, but General McClellan did not wish one 


16 ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. 


Winter Quarters. 


division to move till the whole army was ready. 
December passed, and the year completed its 
round. Cold nights and blustering days came, 
and the army, numbering two hundred thousand 
men, went into winter quarters. 


CHAPTER II. 


BALL’S BLUFF. 


The Position of the Divisions. Leesburg. 


HERE were but two events of importance 

during the long period of inactivity in the 
autumn of 1861,—a disaster at Ball’s Bluff 
and a victory at Dranesville. 

In October General Stone’s division of the 
Army of the Potomac was at Poolesville in Mary- 
land. General Banks’s division was at Darnes- 
town, between Poolesville and Washington. Gen- 
eral McCall’s division was at a little hamlet 
called Lewinsville, on the turnpike leading from 
the chain bridge to. Leesburg, on the Virginia 
side. The main body of the Rebels was at Cen- 
treville, but there was a brigade at Leesburg. 

It is a beautiful and fertile country around 
that pleasant Virginia town. West of the town 
are high hills, called the Catoctin Mountains. 
If we were standing on their summits, and look- 
ing east, we should see the town of Leesburg at 
our feet. It is a place of three or four thou- 
sand inhabitants. There are several churches, a 


court-house, a market-place, where, before the 
B 


18 BALL’S BLUFF. 


The Potomac, General McClellan’s Plan. 


war, the farmers sold their wheat, and corn, 
oats, and garden vegetables. Three miles east 
of the town we behold the Potomac sparkling in 
the sunlight, its current divided by Harrison’s 
Island. The distance from the Virginia shore 
to the island is about one hundred and eighty 
feet; from the island to the Maryland shore it 
is six or seven hundred feet. The bank on the 
Virginia side is steep, and seventy-five or eighty 
feet high, and is called Ball’s Bluff. A canal 
runs along the Maryland shore. ‘Four miles 
below the island is Edward’s Ferry, and three 
miles east of it is Rem | 3 

In October, General McClellan desired to 
make a movement which would compel General 
Evans, commanding the Rebels at Leesburg, to 
leave the place. He therefore directed General 
McCall to move up to Dranesville, on the 
Leesburg turnpike. Such a movement would 
threaten to cut General Evans off from Centre- 
ville. At the same time he sent word to General 
Stone, that if he were to make a demonstration 
towards Leesburg it might drive them away. 

On Sunday night, at sundown, October 20th,- 
General Stone ordered Colonel Devens of the 
Massachusetts Fifteenth to send a squad of men 
across the river, to see if there were any Rebels 
in and around Leesburg. 

Captain Philbrick, with twenty men of that 


BALL’S BLUFF. 19 


Captain Philbrick. The Boats. The Reconnoissance. 


regiment, crossed in three small boats, hauled 
them upon the bank, went up the bluff by a 
winding path, moved cautiously through the 
woods, also through a cornfield, and went within 
a mile and a half of Leesburg, seeing no pickets, 
hearing no alarm. But the men saw what they 
thought was an encampment. They returned at 
midnight and reported to General Stone, who 
ordered Colonel Devens to go over with about 
half of his regiment and hold the bluff. 

The only means which General Stone had for 
crossing troops was one flat-boat, an old ferry- 
boat, and three small boats. 

Colonel Devens embarked his men on the 
boats about three o’clock in the morning. The 
soldiers pushed them to the foot of the bluff, 
then returned for other detachments. The men 
went up the path and formed in line on the top 
of the bluff. By daybreak he had five compa- 
nies on the Virginia shore. He moved through 
the open field towards the encampment which 
Captain Philbrick and his men had seen, as they 
thought, but which proved to be only an open- 
ing in the woods. But just as the sun’s first 
rays were lighting the Catoctin hills he came 
upon the Rebel pickets in the woods beyond the 
field. The pickets fired a few shots and fled 
towards Leesburg, giving the alarm. 

The town was soon in commotion. The 


20 BALL’S BLUFF. 


Commotion at Leesburg. General Evans. Colonel Baker. 


drums beat, the Rebel troops then rushed out 
of their tents and formed in line, and the people 
of the town jumped from their breakfast-tables 
at the startling cry, “‘The Yankees are com- 
Tap ie 

General Evans, the Rebel commander, the day 
before had moved to Goose Creek to meet Gen- 
eral McCall, if he should push beyond Dranes- 
ville. He had the Eighth Virginia, the Thirteenth, 
Seventeenth, and Highteenth Mississippi Regi- 
ments, and a squadron of cavalry and four pieces 
of artillery. 

Captain Duff, commanding a detachment of 
the Seventeenth Mississippi, was left at Leesburg. 
As soon as Colonel Devens’s advance was discoy- 
ered, he formed his men in the woods and sent 
word to General Evans, who hastened with his 
whole brigade to the spot. 

General Stone placed Colonel Baker, com- 
manding the First California Regiment, in com- 
mand of the forces upon the Virginia side of the 
river. Colonel Baker was a Senator from Ore- 
gon,—a noble man, an eloquent orator, a pa- 
triot, and as brave as he was patriotic. During 
the forenoon a portion of the Twentieth Massa- 
chusetts Regiment, commanded by Colonel Lee, 
was sent over. 

Just before twelve o’clock General Stone sent 
word to Colonel Baker that the force of the 


BALL’S BLUFF. Pat 


The Reinforcements. The Courier captured. The Rebels getting ready. 


enemy was supposed fo be about four thousand. 
Colonel Baker was in doubt whether to remain 
or whether to send over more troops; but word 
came to him that the Rebels were advancing, and 
he ordered over the Tammany Regiment of New 
York troops, commanded by Colonel Cogswell, 
and Lieutenant-Colonel Wistar’s California Regi- 
ment. Colonel Baker went over about two o’clock 
in the afternoon. By constant effort, he succeed- 
ed in getting about seventeen hundred men over 
during the day, and three cannon, — two moun- 
tain howitzers and one rifled gun. It was near- 
ly three o’clock in the afternoon before General 
Evans began the attack. He had captured a 
courier the day before, sent by General McCall 
to General Meade, and from the despatches 
learned that General McCall was only making 
a reconnoissance. This information led him to 
bring all his forces back to Leesburg, and it also 
delayed his attack until late in the afternoon. 

Captain Duff, of the Seventeenth Mississippi, 
was reinforced first by four companies of the 
Thirteenth and Highteenth Mississippi, com- 
manded by Colonel Jennifer. About two o’clock 
the Highth Virginia arrived from Goose Creek, 
commanded by Colonel Huntoon. Other rein- 
forcements were near at hand. 

“Drive the Yankees into the river 
General Evans’s order. 


!”? was 


29, BALL’S BLUFF. 


Colonel Baker’s Line of Battle. The Beginning of the Battle. 


He had the advantage of position, being on 
higher ground than that occupied by Colonel 
Baker. But he advanced very cautiously. 

Colonel Baker formed his men on the eastern 
border of the field in the edge of the woods. 
The Fifteenth Massachusetts was on the right, — 
next there was a portion of the Twentieth Mas-_ 
sachusetts, which had been sent over, and then 
the California and Tammany regiments. The 
Rebels began to fire at long range. Some of 
them climbed into the trees,—some secreted 
themselves in the shocks of corn which were 
standing in the field,—some crouched behind 
the fences and trees. Colonel Baker, to save his 
men, ordered them to lie down. 

Colonel Jennifer, commanding a Rebel regi- 
ment, with a party of skirmishers, went round 
the north side of the field and came upon the 
Fifteenth Massachusetts, but the men of that 
regiment fired so steadily that the Rebels were 
forced to retire. 

At the southwest corner of the field was a 
farm road, down which the Rebels advanced. 
The howitzers and the cannon were placed in po-’ 
sition to rake that road, and the Rebels were 
compelled to leave it and form in the woods. 

It was apparent to Colonel Baker and all of 
his command at three o’clock that the Rebels 
outnumbered them, but they prepared to make 


BALL’S BLUFF. 23 


Gen. Gorman at Edward’s Ferry. Capt. Marco and his Men. His Loss. 


a brave fight. The fire from both sides began 
to be more fierce and rapid. 

At this time General Gorman had crossed the 
river at Edward’s Ferry, three miles below, with 
fifteen hundred men. General Evans, to prevent 
a junction of the Union forces, moved his troops 
into a ravine, and came upon the left flank of 
Colonel Baker’s command. 

‘¢ T want to find out what the Rebels are doing 
out there,” said Colonel Baker to Colonel Wistar, 
and ‘* I want you to send out two companies.” 

Colonel Wistar sent out Captain Marco with 
one company, and went himself with the other. 
About fifty yards in front of Colonel Wistar was 
a hill, and behind this Evans was preparing to 
make a charge. Suddenly the Highth Virginia, 
who had been lying upon the ground, sprang to 
their feet, and, without firing a shot, advanced 
upon Captain Marco. His men, without waiting 
for orders, fired, and for fifteen minutes there was 
a very hot time of it, —the two companies holding 
their ground against the superior force. Captain 
Marco had deployed his men as skirmishers, while _ 
the Virginians were in close rank, and so destruc- 
tive was the fire from Captain Marco’s command, 
that the Rebel lines gave way. 

But it was at a fearful cost that the brave men 
held their ground so long. During this time all 
their officers, and all their corporals and sergeants 


24 BALL’S BLUFF. 


The Flank Attack. The Sharpshooters. What Colonel Baker said. 


but three, and two thirds of the men, were killed 
or wounded! They fell back at last under com- 
mand of a sergeant, carrying with them a lieu- 
tenant and fourteen men of the Highth Virginia 
prisoners. 

The Rebels having reformed their line, came 
down upon the left flank of the California regi- 
ment. Colonel Wistar saw them in the ravine, 
faced four of his companies to meet them, and 
gave them a volley which threw them into con- 
fusion, and, after firing a few scattering shots, 
they ran up the ravine, and disappeared behind 
the hill. 

For an hour or more the firing was at long 
range, each party availing themselves of the 
shelter of the woods. The men were ordered by 
Colonel Baker to shield themselves as much as 
possible, but himself and the other officers stood 
boldly out in the hottest fire. 

“That is pretty close!”’ said Colonel Baker to 
Colonel Wistar, as a bullet came between them. 
Soon another ball cut off a twig over Colonel — 
- Baker’s head. | 

‘“‘ That fellow means ws,” he said, pointing to a 
Rebel in a distant tree. “ Boys, do you see him? 
Now some of you try him,” he said to company 
C, of Colonel Wistar’s regiment. The soldiers 
singled out the man, who soon tumbled from the 
tree. He repeatedly cautioned his men about | 


BALL’S BLUFF. 25 


His Duty. 


exposing themselves. He wanted to save them 
for the final conflict, which he knew must come 
before long. 

* Lie close, don’t expose yourself,’ he said ‘to 
a brave soldier who was deliberately loading and 
firing. 

** Colonel, you expose yourself, and why 
should n’t I?” 

‘*Ah! my son, when you get to be a United 
States senator and a colonel, you will feel that 
you must not lie down in face of the ‘enemy.’”’ 

He knew that it would be asked if he was brave 
in the hour of battle. It was his duty to expose 
himself, to show his men and all the world that 
he was not afraid to meet the enemy, and was 
worthy of the position he held. 


s 


1. Union Troops. 2. Rebel Troops. 
3. Road by which the Rebels advanced. 
2 


~ 


26 BALL’S BLUFF. 


The Ammunition exhausted. Troops at Edward’s Ferry wait for Orders. 


One of the Mississippi regiments tried again to 
outflank Colonel Baker’s left. The Rebels came 
within fifty feet of the California regiment; but 
the constant and steady fire given by that regi- 
ment again forced them back. It was an un- 
broken roll of musketry through the afternoon. 
The Union soldiers held their ground manfully, 
but their ammunition was giving out. The men, 
as fast as their cartridge-boxes became empty, 
helped themselves from the boxes of their fallen 
comrades. They could not obtain reinforce- 
ments for want of boats, although there were 
troops enough upon the Maryland shore to over- 
whelm the enemy. The boats were old and leaky, 
and were used to carry the wounded to the island. 
General Stone had taken no measures to obtain 
other boats. He was at Edward’s Ferry, within 
sight and sound of the battle. He had fifteen 
hundred troops across the river at that point, and 
he might have ordered their advance towards 
Leesburg. They could have gained General 
Evans’s rear, for there was no force to oppose 
them. The troops stood idly upon the bank, 
wondering that they were not ordered to march. 
So the brave men on the bluff, confronted by 
nearly twice their number; were left to their fate. 

‘“‘We can cut our way through to Edward’s 
Ferry,” said Colonel Devens. 

“If I had two more such regiments as the 


BALL'S BLUFF. 27 


Colonel Wistar. Lieutenant Bramhall. The Officers turn Cannoneers. 


Massachusetts Fifteenth, I would cut my way to 
Leesburg,’ said Colonel Baker. 

He went along the line encouraging the men 
to hold out to the last. His cool bearing, and the 
glance of his eagle eye, inspired the men and 
they compelled the Rebels again and again to fall 
back. Lieutenant-Colonel Wistar was wounded, 
but refused to leave the field. He remained 
with his men and kept a close watch upon the 
ravine and the hillock at his left hand. He saw 
that General Evans was making preparations for 
a desperate onset. He was gathering his troops 
in a mass behind the hill. 

‘Drive the Yankees into the Potomac,” said 
General Evans, again. He had more than two 
thousand men. 

“There is not a moment to lose. A heavy 
column is behind the hill and they are getting 
ready to advance,” said Colonel Wistar,.hasten- 
ing to Colonel Baker. 

Lieutenant Bramhall was ordered to open upon 
them with his rifled gun. He brought it into 
position and fired a round or two, but two ot 
his cannoneers were instantly killed and five 
others wounded. Colonel Baker, Colonel Wistar, 
and Colonel Coggswell used the rammer and 
sponges, and aided in firing it till other can- 
noneers arrived. Colonel Wistar was wounded 
again while serving the gun. They could not 


28 ‘BALL'S BLUFF. 


Colonel Baker killed. Captain Beirel. The Fight for the Body. 


reach the main body of Rebels behind the hill, but 
kept the others in check with canister as often as 
they attempted to advance. 

The force behind the hill bade came over 
it, yelling and whooping like savages. Colonel 
Baker was in front of his men, urging them to 
resist the impending shock. He was calm and 
collected, standing with his face to the foe, his 
left hand in his bosom. A man sprang from the 
Rebel ranks, ran up behind him, and with a self- 
cocking revolver fired six bullets into him. Two 
soldiers in front of him fired at the same time. 
One bullet tore open his side, another passed 
through his skull. Without a murmur, a groan, 


or a sigh, he fell dead. 


But as he fell, Captain Beirel of the California 
regiment leaped from the ranks and blew out the 
fellow’s brains with his pistol. 

There was a fierce and terrible fight. The 
Californians rushed forward to save the body of 
their beloved commander. They fell upon the 
enemy with the fury of madmen. They thought 
vot of life or death. They had no fear. Hach 
man was a host in himself. There was a close 
hand-to-hand contest, bayonet-thrusts, desperate 
struggles, trials of strength. Men fell, but rose 
again, bleeding, yet still fighting, driving home 
the bayonet, pushing back the foe, clearing a 
space around the body of the fallen hero, and 


.. bearing it from the field. 


"97, dug — ,,"pvop [Tay oy ‘WSs B Io ‘WeOLF B SINTMINUM B YNOTITA 5, 


ay 


> 


Dy 


aa Aarne 7 
ce ie 


bat ag ae 


: ihe 
i pee 


BALL’S BLUFF. 29 


The Retreat. The Disaster. 


While this contest was going on, some one said, 
*¢ Fall back to the river.”’ Some of the soldiers 
started upon the run. 

“Stand your ground 
ens. 

Some who had started for the river came back, 
but others kept on. The line was broken, and it 
was too late to recover what had been lost. They 
all ran to the bank of the river. Some halted on 
the edge of the bluff and formed in line, to make 
another stand, but hundreds rushed down the 
banks to the boats. They pushed off into the 
stream, but the overloaded flat-boat was whirled 
under by the swift current, and the soldiers were 
thrown into the water. Some sank instantly, 
others came up and clutched at sticks, thrust 
their arms towards the light, and with a wild, de- 
spairing cry went down. Some clung to floating 
planks, and floated far down the river, gaining 
the shore at Edward’s Ferry. A few who could 
swim reached the island. All the while the 
Rebels from the bank poured a murderous fire 
upon the struggling victims in the water and 
upon the bank. 

Lieutenant Bramhall ran his cannon down the 
bank into the river, to save them from falling 
into the hands of the enemy. Some of the 
officers and soldiers secreted themselves in the 
bushes till darkness came on, then sprung into 


1? 


shouted Colonel Dev- 


80 BALL’S BLUFF. 


Rejoicing at Leesburg. Fiendishness of the Rebels. 


the river and swam to the island, and thus es- 
caped,— reaching it naked, chilled, exhausted, 
to shiver through the long hours of a cold Oc- 
tober night. Of the seventeen hundred who 
crossed the Potomac, nearly one half were killed, 
wounded, or captured by the enemy. 

There was great rejoicing at Leesburg that 
night. The citizens who had been so frightened 
in the morning when they heard that the Yan- 
kees were coming, now illuminated their houses, 
and spread a feast for the Rebel soldiers. When 
the Union prisoners arrived in the town, the men 
and women called them hard names, shouted 
‘“ Bull Run,” “ Yankee Invaders,” but the men 
who had fought so bravely under such disadvan- 
tages were too noble to take any notice of the 
insults. Indians seldom taunt or insult their 
captives taken in war. Civilized nations every- 
where respect those whom the fortunes of war 
have placed in their hands; but slavery unciv- 
ilizes men. It makes them intolerant, impe- 
rious, and brutal, and hence the men and 
women of the South, who accepted secession, 
who become traitors to their country, mani- 
fested ‘a malignity and fiendishness towards 
Union prisoners which has no parallel in the 
history of civilized nations. 

There was great rejoicing throughout the 
South. It gave the leaders and fomenters of the 


BALL’S BLUFF. 81 


How the Soldiers swam the River. General Stone. 


rebellion arguments which they used to prove 
that the Yankees were cowards, and would not 
fight, and that the North would soon be a con- 
quered nation. 

It was a sad sight at Poolesville. ‘Tidings of - 
the disaster reached the place during the evening. 
The wounded began to arrive. It was heart- 
rending to hear their accounts of the scene at 
the river bank, when the line gave way. Hun- 
dreds of soldiers came into the lines naked, 
having thrown away everything to enable them 
to swim the river. The night set in dark and 
stormy. After swimming the river, they had 
crowded along the Maryland shore, through bri- 
ers, thorns, and thistles, stumbling over fallen 
trees and stones in the darkness, while endeav- 
‘oring to reach their encampments. Many were 
found in the woods in the morning, having fallen 
through exhaustion. 

Thus by the incompetency of those in com- 
mand, a terrible disaster was brought about. 
General McClellan and General Storie were both 
severely censured by the people for this needless, 
inexcusable sacrifice. Grave doubts were enter- 
tained in regard to the loyalty of General Stone, 
for he permitted the wives of officers in the Rebel 
service to pass into Maryland and return to Vir- 
ginia, with packages and bundles, whenever they 
pleased, and he ordered his pickets to heed any 


32 BALL’S BLUFF. 


His Arrest. Lieutenant Putnam. His Funeral. 


signals they might see from the Rebels, and to re- 
ceive any packages they might send, and forward 
them to his quarters.* 

When these facts became known to the War 
Department, General Stone was arrested and 
confined in Fort Warren in Boston Harbor, but 
he was subsequently released, having no charges 
preferred against him. 

Lieutenant Putnam of the Twentieth Massa- 
chusetts, who was so young that he was called 
the ‘* boy soldier,” was mortally wounded in the 
battle, was carried to Poolesville, where he died 
the next day. He came of noble blood. His 
father was descended from the ancestor of old 
General Putnam, who fought the French and In- 
dians on the shores of Lake Champlain, who did 
not stop to unyoke his oxen in the field, when he 
heard of the affair at Lexington, and hastened to 
meet the enemy. 

Rev. James Freeman Clarke, at his funeral, 
said : — : 

‘‘ His mother’s family has given to us states- 
men, sages, patriots, poets, scholars, orators, 
economists, philanthropists, and now gives us 
also a hero and a martyr. His great grand- 
father, Judge Lowell, inserted in the Bill of 
Rights, prefixed to the Constitution of this State, 
the clause declaring that ‘all men are born free 


* Testimony before Committee of Congress. 


BALL’S BLUFF. 33 


What was said of him. His noble Character. 


and equal,’ for the purpose, as he avowed at the 
time, of abolishing slavery in Massachusetts, and 
he was appointed by Washington, federal judge 
of the district. 

‘¢ His grandfather was minister of this church, 
[West Church, Boston,] honored and loved as 
few men have been, for more than half a century. 

‘* Born in Boston in 1840, he was educated in 
Europe, where he went when eleyen years old, 
and where in France, Germany, and Italy he 
showed that he possessed the ancestral faculty 
of mastering easily all languages, and where he 
faithfully studied classic and Christian antiquity 
and art. Under the best and most loving guid- 
ance, he read with joy the vivid descriptions of 
- Virgil, while looking down from the hill of Po- 
silippo, on the headland of Misenum, and the 
ruins of Cumez. He studied with diligence the 
remains of Etruscan art, of which, perhaps, no 
American scholar, though he was so young, knew 
more. 

“‘Thus accomplished, he returned to his native 
land, but, modest and earnest, he made no dis- 
play of his acquisitions, and very few knew that 
he had acquired anything. When the war broke 
out, his conscience and heart urged him to go to 
the service of his country. His strong sense of 
duty overcame the reluctance of his parents, and 


they consented. A presentiment that he should 
2% C 


84 BALL’S BLUFF. 


His Servant. Lieut. Sturgis. 


not return alive was very strong in his mind 
and theirs, but he gave himself cheerfully, and 
said, in entire strength of his purpose, that ‘ to 
die would be easy in such a cause.’ In the full 
conviction of immortality he added, ‘ What is 
death, mother? it is nothing but a step in our 
life.’ 

*“‘ His fidelity to every duty gained him the re- 
spect of his superior officers, and his generous, 
constant interest in his companions and soldiers 
brought to him an unexampled affection. He 
realized fully that this war must enlarge the area 
of freedom, if it was to attain its true end, — 
and in one of his last letters he expressed the 
earnest prayer that it might not cease till it 
opened the way for universal liberty. These 
‘earnest opinions were connected with a feeling 
of the wrong done to the African race and an 
interest in its improvement. He took with him 
to the war as a body servant a colored lad named 
George Brown, who repaid the kindness of Lieu- 
tenant Lowell by gratitude and faithful service. 
George Brown followed his master across the Po- 
tomac into the battle, nursed him in his tent, and 
tended his remains back to Boston. Nor let the » 
devoted courage of Lieutenant Henry Sturgis be | 
forgotten, who lifted his wounded friend and com- 
rade from the ground, and carried him on his 
back a long distance to the boat, and returned 
again into the fight 


BALL’S BLUFF. 35 


His Compeers. Eulogies on Col. Baker. 


** Farewell, dear child, brave heart, soul of 
sweetness and fire! We shall see no more that 
fair, candid brow, with its sunny hair, those sin- 
cere eyes, that cheek flushed with the commin- 
gling roses of modesty and courage! Go and 
join the noble group of devoted souls, our heroes 
and saints! Go with Ellsworth, protomartyrs 
of this great cause of freedom. Go with Win- 
throp, poet and soldier, our Korner, with sword 
and lyre. Go with the chivalric Lyon, bravest 
of the brave, leader of men. Go with Baker, 
to whose utterance the united murmurs of At- 
lantic and Pacific Oceans gave eloquent rhythm, 
and whose words flowed so early into heroic 
action. Go with our noble Massachusetts boys, 
in whose veins runs the best blood of the age!” 

I saw Colonel Baker often as I rode through 
-the army. He had a great love for his soldiers. 
I had a long talk with him a few days before his 
death. He felt keenly the humiliations which 
had come upon the nation at Bull Run, but was 
confident that in the next battle the soldiers 
would redeem their good name. 

Colonel Baker was mourned for by the whole 
nation. Eloquent eulogies were pronounced 
upon him in the Senate of the United States. 
It was on the 11th of December, and President 
Lincoln was present to do honor to the dead. 

Senator McDougall spoke of his noble charac- 


36 BALL'S BLUFF. 


Senator McDougall’s Remarks. Senator Sumner’s. 


ter, his great gifts, his love of music and poetry. 
Many years before they were out together upon 
the plains of the West riding at night, and Col- 
onel Baker recited the “ Battle of Ivry” as if 
in anticipation of the hour when he was to stand 
upon the battle-field : — 
«The king has come to marshal us, in all his armor drest ; 
And he has bound a snow-white plume upon his gallant crest. 
He looked upon his people, and a tear was in his eye; 
He looked upon the traitors, and his glance was stern and high. 
Right graciously he smiled on us, as ran from wing to wing, 
Down all our line a deafening shout, ‘God save our Lord the 
King !’ 
And if my standard-bearer fall, as fall full well he may, 
For never saw I promise yet of such a bloody fray, 
Press where ye see my white plume shines amid the ranks of 
war, 
And be your oriflamme to-day the helmet of Navarre.” 


Senator Sumner said of him: — 

‘“‘He died with his face to the foe; and he 
died so instantly that he passed without pain 
from the service of his country to the service of 
his God, while with him was more than one gal- 
lant youth, the hope of family and friends, sent 
forth by my own honored Commonwealth. It 
is sweet and becoming to die for one’s country. 
Such a death, sudden, but not unprepared for, 
is the crown of the patriot soldier’s life.” 


OHA RP PERRO LIE. 


BATTLE OF DRANESVILLE AND THE WINTER OF 1862. 


The Place. The surrounding Country. 


N the old turnpike which leads from the 
Chain Bridge above Georgetown to Lees- 
burg there is a hamlet of a half-dozen houses, 
called Dranesville. The great road to Alexandria 
joins the turnpike there, also a road which leads 
to Centreville. Near the junction of the roads, 
on the west side of the turnpike, there is a large 
brick house, a fine old Virginia mansion, owned 
by Mr. Thornton, surrounded by old trees. Just 
beyond Mr. Thornton’s, as we go toward Lees- 
burg, is Mr. Coleman’s store, and a small church. 
Doctor Day’s house is opposite the store. There 
are other small, white-washed houses scattered 
along the roadside, and years ago, before the 
Alexandria and Leesburg railroad was built, 
before Virginia gave up the cultivation of corn 
and wheat for the raising of negroes for the 
South, it was a great highway. Stage-coaches 
filled with passengers rumbled over the road, and 
long lines of canvas-covered wagons, like a mov- 
ing caravan. . 


38 BATTLE OF DRANESVILLE 


The Expedition. The Troops. General Stuart’s Command. 


It is a rich and fertile country. The fields of 
Loudon are ever verdant; there are no hillsides 
more sunny or valleys more pleasant. Wheat 
and corn and cattle are raised in great abun- 
dance. 

On the 20th of December, 1861, General 
McCall, whose division of Union troops was at 
Lewinsville, sent General Ord with a brigade and 
a large number of wagons to Dranesville to gather 
forage. On the same morning the Rebel General 
Stuart started from Centreville with a brigade 
bound on the same errand. 

General Ord had the Sixth, Ninth, Tenth, and 
Twelfth Regiments of Pennsylvania Reserves, 
with four guns of Easton’s battery, and a com- 
pany of cavalry. One of the regiments wore 
bucktails in their caps instead of plumes. The 
soldiers of that regiment were excellent marks- 
men. They were from the Alleghany Mountains, 
and often had the valleys and forests and _ hill- 
sides rung with the crack of their rifles. They 
had hunted the deer, the squirrels, and partridges, 
and could bring down a squirrel from the tallest 
tree by their unerring aim. 

General Stuart had the First Kentucky, Sixth 
South Carolina, Tenth Alabama, Eleventh Vir- 
ginia, with the First South Carolina Battery, 
commanded by Captain Cutts, also a company 
of cavalry. The two forces were nearly equal. 


AND THE WINTER OF 1862. 39 


Meeting the Enemy. ; Gen. Ord’s Line. 


General Ord started early in the morning. 
The ground was frozen, the air was clear, there 
was a beautiful sunshine, and the men marched 
cheerily along the road, thinking of the chickens 
and turkeys which might fall into their hands, 
and would be very acceptable for Christmas din- 
ners. They reached Difficult Creek at noon 
where the troops halted, kindled their fires 
cooked their coffee, ate their beef and bread, 
and then pushed on towards Dranesville. 

An officer of the cavalry came back in haste 
from the advance, and reported having seen a 
rebel cavalryman. 

‘¢ Keep a sharp lookout,”’ was the order. The 
column moved on; but General Ord was pru- 
dent and threw out companies of flankers, who 
threaded their way through the woods, keep- 
ing a sharp eye for Rebels, for they had heard 
that the enemy was near at hand. ; 

On reaching Dranesville, General Ord sent a 
company down the Centreville road to recon- 
noitre. It was not long before they reported that 
the woods were full of Rebels. General Ord 
formed his men on both sides of the Centreville 
road. He sent the Ninth and Twelfth west of 
Mr. Thornton’s house, into the woods, posted the 
Bucktails in front of the house, put three of 
Easton’s guns into position on a hill east of it, 
put the Tenth Regiment and the cavalry in rear 


40 BATTLE OF DRANESVILLE 


Gen. Stuart’s Line. The Commencement of the Battle. 


of the battery on the Chain Bridge road, sent 
one cannon down the Chain Bridge road a short 
distance to open a flank fire, and directed the 
Sixth Regiment to take position west of the 
Centreville road, to support the Bucktails, and 
detached one company of the Tenth to move 
down the Alexandria road to cover the flanking 
cannon. 

Standing by Thornton’s house, and looking 
south, we see the Rebels on a hill, about half a 
mile distant. General Stuart. plants his six guns 
on both sides of the road, to fire toward the 
Bucktails. The Eleventh Virginia and Tenth 
Alabama are deployed on the right of the 2s 


r] 
BaTTLE OF DRANESVILLE. 
1 General Ord’s line. 4 Road to Alexandria. 
2 General Stuart’s line. 5 Road to Centreville. 


3 Road to Georgetown. 


AND THE WINTER OF 1862. 41 


Easton’s splendid Firing. . In the Woods. 


and the Sixth South Carolina and the First Ken- 
tucky are sent to the left. The cavalry is drawn 
up behind the battery. 

Having defeated the Yankees at Manassas id 
Ball’s Bluff, the rebel soldiers were confident 
that they would win an easy victory. As soon 
as General Stuart formed his line} Cutt’s Battery 
opened fire, sending shells down the road towards 
the Bucktails. The guns were not well aimed 
and did no damage. Easton’s battery was hur- 
ried up from the turnpike. So eager were the 
artillerymen to get into position, that one gun 
was upset, and the men were obliged to lift it 
from the ground. But General Ord told the men 
where to place the guns. He jumped from his 
horse and sighted them so accurately, that they 
threw their shells with great precision into the 
Rebel ranks. The cannonade went on for a half- 
hour, Easton’s shells tearing the Rebel ranks, 
while those fired by the Rebels did no damage 
whatever. One of Haston’s shells went through 
a Rebel caisson, which exploded and killed sev- 
eral men and horses. So severe was his fire, ) 
that, although the Rebels had two more guns 
than he, they were obliged to retreat. 

Meanwhile General Ord’s infantry advanced. 
The Ninth came upon the First Kentucky in the 
woods. The pines were very dense, shutting out 
completely the rays of the winter sun, then low 


42, BATTLE OF DRANESVILLE 


Easton riddles the House. General Ord advances. 


down in the western horizon. At the same time 
the Bucktails were advancing directly south. 
The men of the Ninth, when they discovered the 
Rebels, thought they were the Bucktails. 

‘Don’t fire on us,—we are your friends!” 
shouted a Rebel. 

“ Are you the Bucktails?”’? asked one of the 
Ninth. ~ 

“Yes!” was the reply, followed by a terrific 
volley from the Rebel line. 

The Ninth, though deceived, were not thrown 
into confusion. They gave an answering volley. 
The Bucktails hearing the firing advanced, while 
the Twelfth followed, the Ninth supporting them. 

Upon the other side of the road a body of 
Rebels had taken shelter in a house. “Let them 
fellows have some shells,’’ was the order to the 
*cunners. , 

Crash! crash! went the shells into and through 
the house, smashing in the sides, knocking two 


rooms into one, strewing the floor with laths ° 


and plaster, and making the house smoke with 
ust. The Rebels came out in a hurry, and took 
shelter behind the fences, trees, and outbuildings. 
‘Colonel, I wish you to advance and drive 
back those fellows,’’ said General ‘Ord to the 
commander of the Sixth Regiment. 


Captain Easton ordered his gunners to cease : 


firing, for fear of injuring the advancing troops. 


, a 


AND THE. WINTER OF 1862. 43 


The Bucktails. Stuart’s Line gives way. 


The Sixth moved rapidly across the field, firing 
as they advanced. The Rebels behind the fences 
fired a volley, but so wild was their aim that 
nearly all the bullets passed over the heads of 
the Sixth. In the field and in the woods there» 
was a constant rattle of musketry. The men on 
both sides sheltered themselves behind trees and 
fences, or crept like Indians through the almost 
impenetrable thickets. 

The Bucktails were accustomed to creeping 
through the forests, and taking partridges and 
pigeons on the wing. Their fire was very de- 
structive to the enemy. Stuart’s lines began to 
waver before them. The South Carolinians fell 
back a little, and then a little more, as the Buck- 
tails kept edging on. The fire of the skilled 
mountaineers was constant and steady. It was 
too severe for the Rebels to withstand. They 
gave way suddenly on all sides, and fled in wild 
confusion down the Centreville road, throwing 
away their guns, clothing, knapsacks, and cart- 
ridge-boxes, leaving one caisson and limber of _ 
their artillery behind in their haste to get away. ” 
Nearly all of their severely wounded were left 
on the field. The Union loss was seven killed 
and sixty-one wounded, while so destructive was 
the fire of the Pennsylvanians that the Rebel loss 
was: two hundred and thirty. * 


* Norfolk Day-Book. 


44 BATTLE OF DRANESVILLE 


A proud Day. Christmas. 


The affair, though short, was decisive. The 
effect was thrilling throughout the army. The 
Union troops, — held in contempt by the Rebels, 
—defeated at Manassas, Ball’s Bluff, and at 
Bethel, by superior forces, had met an equal 
number of the enemy, and in a fair fight had 
won a signal victory. It was a proud day to the 
brave men who had thus shown their ability to 
conquer a foe equal in numbers. They returned 
from Dranesville in high spirits, and were re- 
ceived with cheers, long and loud, by their com- 
rades, who had heard the distant firing, and who 
had been informed of their victory. 

Christmas came. The men were in winter 
quarters, and merry times they had, — dinners 
of roast turkey, plum-pudding and mince-pies, 
sent by their friends at home. After dinner 

ney had games, sports, and dances, chasing a 
greased pig, climbing a greasy pole, running in a 
meal-bag, playing ball, pitching quoits, playing 
leap-frog, singing and dancing, around the camp- 
fires through the long Christmas evening. 

- The winter passed away without any event to 
break the monotony of camp-life. 

Officers and soldiers alike became disaffected | 
at the long delay of General McClellan. The 
President and the people also were dissatisfied. 
President Lincoln, being commander-in-chief, 
selected the 22d of February, the birthday of 


AND THE WINTER OF 1862. 45. 


%, The Winter. Organization of the Army into Corps. 


Washington, on which all the armies of the 
Union were to make an advance upon the ene- 
my; but it was midwinter, the roads were deep 
with mud, and the order was withdrawn. Gen- 
eral Grant all the while was winning victories 
at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, and General 
Sherman and the navy had taken Port Royal, 
while the great Army of the Potomac, on which 
the country had lavished its means, and granted 
all that its commander asked for, was doing 
nothing. 

The President, in March, issued an order to 
General McClellan to complete the organization 
of the army into corps, with such promptness 
and despatch as not to delay the commencement 
of the operations which he had already directed 
to be undertaken by the Army of the Potomac. _ 
General McClellan complied with the order. 

The First Corps was composed of Franklin’s, 
McCall’s, and King’s Divisions, and was com- 
manded by Major-General McDowell. 

The Second Corps was composed of Richard- 
‘son’s, Blenker’s, and Sedgwick’s Divisions, and 
was commanded by Major-General Sumner. 

The Third Corps was commanded by Major- 
General Heintzelman, and was composed of Fitz- 
John. Porter’s, Hooker’s, and Hamilton’s Divi- 
sions. ; 

The Fourth Corps was commanded by Major- 


46 BATTLE OF BRANESVILLE 


A dull Winter. The Soldiers disheartened. 


General Keyes, and was composed of Couch’s, 
Smith’s, and Casey’s Divisions. 

The Fifth Corps was composed of Shields’s and 
Williams’s Divisions, and was commanded by 
Major-General Banks. 

_It was a long, dull winter to the soldiers. They 
waited impatiently for action. Camp-life was 
not all song-singing and dancing. There were 
days and weeks of stormy weather, when there 
could be no drills. The mud was deep, and the 
soldiers had little to do but doze by the camp- 
fires through the long winter days and nights. 
Thousands who had led correct lives at home fell 
into habits of dissipation and vice. Their wives 
and children haunted their dreams at night. A 
sorrow settled upon them, —a longing for home, 
which became a disease, and sent thousands to 
the hospital, and finally to the grave. The army 
early in the winter began to suffer for want of © 
something to do. 

Some of the colonels and chaplains saw that 5 
it was of the utmost importance that something — 
should be done to take up the minds of the men 
and turn their thoughts from the scenes of home. 
Lyceums, debating-societies, schools, in which Lat- 
in, German} arithmetic, reading, and writing were 
taught, were established. The chaplains, — those 
who were true, earnest men, established Sunday 
schools, and organized churches, and held prayer- 


Bs I 
iv 


a . N 
yan LAS 


ee 


=. - 
——S - 


“They kneeled before me, and I consecrated them to God for life or death.” 
Page 47. 


AND THE WINTER OF 1862. 47 


What was done for them. Religion in the Army. The Baptism. 


meetings. God blessed their efforts, and hundreds 
of soldiers became sincere Christians, attesting 
their faith in Jesus Christ as the Saviour of men 
by living correct lives and breaking off their evil 
habits. Under the influence of the religious 
teachings there was a great reform in the army. 
The men became sober. They no longer gambled 
away their money. They became quiet and or- 
derly, obeyed the%cgmmands, of their officers in 
doing unpleasant duties. witht alacrir: Some 
who had been drunkards for years signed the 
temperange pledge. They» became #GHeerful. 
‘They: took: new views of their dutide: and ob- 
-ligations to their country and their God, and 
looked through the gloom and darkngss to the 
better life beyond the grave. Several of the 
chaplains org@nized churches. One noble chap- 
lain says of the church in his regiment : — 

‘*¢T received into its communion one hundred 
and seventy members, about sixty of whom for 
the first time confessed Christ. At the com- 
mencement of the services I baptized six young 
soldiers. They kneeled before me, and I con- 
sécrated them to God for life and for death, — 
the majority of them baptized, as it proved, for 
death. I then read the form of covenant, the 
system of faith, to which all gave their assent. I 
then read the names of those who wished to enter 
this fold in the Wilderness ; those who had made 


¥ cast 


48 BATDLE OF DRANESVILLE 


A solemn Scene. 


a profession of religion at home, and came to us 
as members of Christian churches, and those 
who now came as disciples of the Redeemer. 

‘Then followed the communion service. This 
was one of the most affecting and impressive 
seasons of my life. The powers of the world to 
come rested on all minds. The shadow of the 
great events so soon to follow was creeping over 
us, giving earnestness and impressive solemnity 
to all hearts. It was a day never to be forgotten 
as a commencement of a new era in the life of 
many. It was a scene on which angels might 
look down with unmingled pleasure, for here the 
weary found rest, the burdened the peace of for- 
giveness, the broken in heart, beauty for ashes. 

Our position increased in a high degree the 
interest of the occasion. We were far from our 
churches and homes. Yet we found here the 
sacred emblems of our religion, and looking into 
the future, which we knew was full of danger, 
sickness, and death to many, we have girded our- 
selves for the conflict. It much resembled the 
solemn communion of Christians in the time of 
persecution. Our friends who were present from 
a distance, of whom there were several, rejoiced 
greatly that there was such a scene in the army. 
General Jameson was deeply moved and after- 
wards said it was the most solemn and interest- 
ing scene of his life. 


AND THE WINTER OF 1862. 49 


The Last Communion. 


* Again, on Sabbath, March 9th, the religious 
interest continuing, we held another communion. 
At this time twenty-eight were received into the 
church. Seven young men were baptized. The 
interest was greater than at the former commun- 
ion, and it gives me the greatest satisfaction to 
know that this season, which gave to many the 
highest enjoyment ever known on earth, when the 
cup of thanksgiving was mingled with tears of 
gratitude, prepared for the sacrifice that was to 
follow. Many who were there never again par- 
took of the wine of promise until they drank it 
new in the kingdom of God, and sat down at the 
marriage supper of the Lamb.” * 


* Peninsular Campaign. Rev. Dr. Marks. 


OTH APE Rivera 
THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 


Evacuation of Manassas. The Peninsula. 


HE Rebel army suddenly evacuated Centre- 

ville, Manassas, and the line of the Poto- 
mac, carrying off everything of value. The 
Army of the Potomac moved on the 9th of 
March to Manassas, beheld the deserted encamp- 
ments, returned to Alexandria, and sailed for 
Fortress Monroe. General McClellan decided to 
advance upon Richmond by the Peninsula, be- 
tween the York and James Rivers. General 
McDowell, with McCall’s and King’s divisions, 
was stationed at Fredericksburg, to cover Wash- 
ington. SBlenker’s division was detached from 
Sumner’s corps, and sent to the Shenandoah 
Valley. All the other divisions sailed down the 
Chesapeake. The troops landed at Newport 
News and went into camp. 
_ The Rebel General Magruder occupied York- 
town. He was fortifying it and the Peninsula, 
erecting batteries to command York River, and 
to cover the approaches by land. . The iron-clad 
Merrimack, with the Teazer and Jamestown gun- 


THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 51 


General McClellan’s Plan. The last Night at Newport News. 


boats, were in the James River. Admiral Golds- 
borough, with the Monitor, the Minnesota, and 
several gunboats, was watching them, and guard- 
ing the shipping at Fortress Monroe. 

General McClellan submitted his plans to the 
President. He had two methods of operation in 
view ;—one, to attack Magruder’s works, between 
the York and the James, which might require 
siege operations, and a delay of many weeks; 
the other, to obtain aid from the navy, attack 
the water-batteries at Yorktown, silence them, 
and then go up the York River with his army, 
sailing to West Point, within twenty-five miles of 
Richmond. Admiral Goldsborough could not 
spare gunboats enough to attack the batteries, 
and therefore General McClellan adopted the 
other plan.* 

On the evening of April 8d the army received 
orders to march the next morning. 

It was a beautiful night. The sky was cloud- 
less. A new moon shed its silver light upon,the 
vast encampment. The soldiers had been wait- cassia 
ing two weeks. They were one hundred thou- 
sand strong, while the Rebel force did not num- 
ber more than ten or twelve thousand.t 

They expected to move to victory. They sang 
songs, wrote letters to their friends, burnished 


* General McClellan’s Report, p. 66. 
+ General Heintzelman’s testimony. IBRERY ht 


oe wT TAIN! 
erry HF ILL 


52, THEQSTEGE OF YORKTOWN. 


The Hi The March. 


their guns, heaped the fires with fresh fuel, and 
rejoiced that after so many months of waiting 
they were to be active. 

There were some who had a true appreciation 
of the work before them, and realized that they 
might fall in the hour of battle. 

One who had fought at Bull Run, whose heart 
was in the great cause, prepared his last will and 
testament. At the close of it he wrote: — 

‘‘ And now, having arranged for the disposi- 
tion of my worldly estate, I will say that, possess- 
ing a full confidence in the Christian religion, 
and believing in the righteousness of the cause 
in which Iam engaged, I am ready to offer my 
poor life in vindication of that cause, and in sus- 
taining a government the mildest and most be- 
neficent the world has ever known.’’* 

At three o’clock in the morning the soldiers 
were astir, roused by the drum-beat and the 
bugle. The fading fires were rekindled. Their 
coffee was soon bubbling on the coals. Before 
daylight they had their knapsacks packed, their 
tents taken down, and all things ready for the 
march. By sunrise they were on the road, Gen- 
eral Heintzelman’s corps leading the column. 
The roads were deep with mud, and the march- 
ing was heavy, but so enthusiastic were the sol- 


* Maine Adjutant-General’s Report, 1862, p. 142. Captain 
B. M. Smith. 


THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 53 


Yorktown. Lord Cornwallis. — 


diers that by ten o’clock the head of the column 
encountered the enemy’s pickets in front of 
Yorktown. 

Both armies were upon historic ground. It 
was at Yorktown that the British army under 
Lord Cornwallis laid down its arms in 1781. It 
was a flourishing village then. There were fine 
mansions, surrounded with shrubbery, shaded by 
old oaks and lindens. Virginia in those days 
had many wealthy families. The Peninsula was 
the first settled territory in America, and many 
of the planters had immense estates. One of the 
signers of the Declaration of Independence resid- 
ed at Yorktown,—Governor Nelson. His house 
is yet standing, — a large two-story brick build- 
ing, which General Magruder occupied for his 
head-quarters. It bears the marks of shot which 
were fired by the Americans during the siege in 
1781. Governor Nelson commanded the Virginia 
militia then. He was a noble patriot, and aimed 
the cannon himself at his own house to drive out 
the British who had possession of it. 

Cornwallis had a line of earthworks around 
Yorktown, and those which Magruder erected 
were on pretty much the same line, only Magru- 
der’s, besides encircling the town, also reached 
across the Peninsula. The English general had 
between seven and eight thousand men. General 
Washington and Count Rochambeau had about 


54 THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 


General Washington’s Army. The first Siege. - 


fifteen thousand. They were large armies for 
those days, but very small when compared with 
that commanded by General McClellan. 

It was a long march which the French and 
American troops made to reach Yorktown. They 
marched from New York, in July, through Phila- 
delphia, Baltimore, Annapolis, Mount Vernon, 
and Williamsburg. They had no transports to take 
them down the Chesapeake, besides, there was an 
English fleet in the bay which might have cap- 
tured the entire army had it moved by water. 

In the American army were officers whose 
names are inseparably connected with the his- 
tory of our country,— General Knox, Baron 
Steuben, Lafayette, General Clinton, General Lin- 
coln, Colonel Scammell, the brave New Hamp- 
shire officer who was shot by a Hessian soldier. 
In the French army were Count Rochambeau,. 
Marquis St. Simon, and Baron Viomeil. In the 
bay floated the English ships of war, and outside, 
near Cape Henry, was the Count de Grasse, with 
his formidable fleet. 

On Sunday morning, the 18th of October, the 
place was completely invested. The Americans 
of the allied army moved down the road lead- 
ing to Hampton, and swung round by Wormley 
Creek. General Lincoln commanded the right 
wing, and had his head-quarters near the creek. 
Lafayette, with his light infantry, and Governor 


- 


THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 55 


The Capitulation. Laying down their Arms. 


Nelson, with the Virginia militia, were on the 
north side of the Hampton road, while south of 
it were the New England and New Jersey and 
New York troops, under General Clinton. They 
held the centre of the American line. The left 
wing of the Americans, on Warwick River, was 
composed of Maryland and Pennsylvania troops, 
under Baron Steuben. On the west side of the 
Warwick were Washington’s and Rochambeau’s 
head-quarters, on the south side of the road. 
The French troops held the ground from this— 
point to York River west of the town. 

Lord Cornwallis capitulated on the 16th of 
October. On the 17th his fine army marched 
out from the town along the Hampton road about 
a mile to a field, where the soldiers laid down their 
arms. ‘The American army was drawn up on 
the north side of the road and the French on 
the south side, — two long lines of troops. The 
British army marched between them, the drums 
beating a slow march, and the colors which had 
waved proudly on so many battle-fields closely 
encased. It was a sorrowful march to the Brit- 
ish soldiers. Some of them cried with vexation, 
and drew their caps over their faces to hide their 
tears. Lord Cornwallis felt the humiliation so 
deeply that he delegated General O’Harra,, to 
surrender up his sword. 

It was an imposing scene. Washington and 


56 THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 


What the Rebels believed. 


all the generals of the army, with their suits, in 
rich uniforms and on fine horses, the long lines 
of soldiers, the colors waving in the breeze, the 
British army in its scarlet uniforms, the crowd 
of spectators from the country who had heard of 
the news, and had hastened to see the surrender, 
made it one of the*grandest sights ever seen in 
America. 

On such ground, hallowed by noble deeds, the 
troops of the Union, as their fathers had done 
before them, were to carry on the siege of York- 
town. | 

The Rebels also undoubtedly felt the influence 
of those stirring times of the Revolution. They 
believed that they were fighting for their liberty, 
and were engaged in a just war. But sincerity 
is not certain proof of the righteousness of a 
cause. Chaplain Davis, of the Fourth Texas 
regiment, has this vindication of the rebellion, 
written by the camp-fires at Yorktown :— 

‘¢ How many pleasing recollections crowd upon 
the mind of each soldier as he walks over these 
grounds, or sitting thoughtfully by his fagots, 
recalls the history of the past, and compares it 
with the scenes of the present. The patriots of 
the Revolution were struggling for liberty, and 
so are we. They had been oppressed with bur- 
densome taxation,—so were we. They remon- 
_ strated,—sodid we. They submitted till submis- 


THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 5T 


Their Grievances. 


sion ceased to be a virtue,—and so have we. 
They appealed to Parliament, but were unheard. 
Our Representatives in Congress pointed to the 
maelstrom to which they were driving the ship, 
but they refused to see it. Our fathers asked for 
equalities of rights and privileges, but it was 
refused. The South asked that their claim to 
territory won by the common blood and treasure 
of the country be recognized, and that our domes- 
tic institutions, as guaranteed by the Constitution, 
be respected. These petitions were answered by 
professed ministers of the Church of Jesus Christ 
in raising contributions from the sacred pulpit © 
on the holy Sabbath of Sharpe’s Rifles, to shed 
Southern blood on common territory. Their 
Representatives declared, upon the floors of Con- 
gress, that they were in favor of ‘ An Antislavery 
Constitution, an Antislavery Bible, and an Anti- 
slavery God!’ What is now left us? Naught 
but the refuge our fathers had,—the God of 
Justice and the. God of Batfles. To him have 
we appealed, and by his aid and our good right 
arms we will pass through the ordeal of blood 
and come out conquerors in the end.’ * 

Many thousands of the Union soldiers were 
thinking, reflecting men. There were ministers, 
professors in colleges, school-teachers, and learned 

* Campaign from Texas to Maryland, by Rev. Nicholas A. 


Davis, Chaplain Fourth Texas. Richmond, 1863. 
3* 


58 THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. . 


The Union Soldiers. What they thought. 


and scientific men. Few there were who could 
not read and write. Thousands of them had 
been teachers and scholars in the Sunday schools. 
They had thought the war all over, and discussed 
the causes which led to it. They were familiar 
with the history of events, —of the struggle be- 
tween Slavery and Freedom for the possession 
of Kansas, where men and women were driven 
out, their buildings burned, or themselves thrown 
into rivers, or deliberately murdered, for pre- 
ferring freedom to slavery. They recalled the 
attempt to compel the people of the North to 
return the slaves who were escaping to Canada, 
—also the kidnapping of free citizens of the 
North; the imprisonment of men and women for 
teaching a slave to read the Bible. They remem- 
bered that a Northern man could not travel with 
safety in the South before the war, that Slavery 
was opposed always to Freedom, that the system 
crushed the poor laboring men without distinc- 
tion of color, race,*or clime or country; that it 
was overbearing, imperious, aristocratic, arrogant, 
and cruel; that it kept the people from obtaining 
knowledge ; that it was the foe of industry, the 
enemy of science, art, and religion. | 
They remembered the words of Mr. Stephens, 


of Georgia, the Vice-President of the Confederacy, — 


who in the beginning opposed secession ; who said 
to his associates in the convention which carried 
his State out of the Union : — 


' ? 


THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 59 


What Mr. Stephens said. Secretary Floyd. 


‘‘It is the best and freest government, the most 
equal in its rights, the most just in its decisions, 
the most lenient in its measures, and the most 
inspiring in its principles to elevate the race of 
man that the sun of heaven ever shone upon. 
Now for you to attempt to overthrow such a 
government as this, unassailed, is the height of 
madness, folly, and wickedness.”’ * 

They remembered that Mr. Stephens asked 
those who were plotting treason these questions: 
‘‘ What reasons can you give to the nations of 
the earth to justify it? They will be calm and 
deliberate judges in the case; and to what law, 
to what one overt act, can you point on which to 
rest the plea of justification? What right has 
the North assailed? What interest of the South 
has been invaded? What justice has been denied, 
or what claim founded in justice and right has 
been withheld? Can any of you name one goy- 
ernmental act of wrong deliberately and purposely 
done by the government at Washington of which 


the South had a right to complain? I challenge ~ 


the answer.” 

They remembered that the Secretary of War 
under President Buchanan, Mr. Floyd of Vir- 
ginia, had removed all the arms from the Northern 
arsenals to the South, that the slaveholders 
might be well prepared for war, and ready to 
seize the city of Washington. 


* Stephens’s speech. 


60 THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 


Secretary Mallory. What Mr. Jefferson said. 


They remembered that Mr. Toucey of Connec- 
ticut, who was President Buchanan’s Secretary 
of the Navy, had sent nearly all the ships of war 
into foreign seas, that they might not be at hand 
in the hour of rebellion, when the government 
should pass into new hands, and that the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury stole millions of dollars of 
public funds intrusted to his care. They reflected 
that all of these men had forsworn themselves, 
that they were traitors and robbers, that they had 
deliberately, through years of power, planned to 
rebel, to destroy the government, and bring ruin 
upon the people if they could not have their way. 
They believed that without cause the Rebels had 
fired upon the flag, and inaugurated the war, and 
that to defend the flag and restore the Union, by 
crushing out the rebellion, was a duty they owed 
to their country and to God. They recalled the 
words of Thomas Jefferson, uttered long ago, in 
his notes on Virginia, who said, in view of the 
complicity of the South with slavery : — 

“7 tremble for my country when I reflect that 
God is just, and that his justice cannot sleep for- 
ever. The Almighty has no attribute that can 
take side with us in such a contest.’’ * 

Those thinking men remembered the words 
of the great man who wrote the Declaration of 
Independence, and they also remembered that the 


* Notes on Virginia. 


THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 61 
The Soldiers’ Reflections. The Corps in Position. 


oppressed and down-trodden of all lands were 
looking to America,—to the principles of the 
yovernment of the United States, —as their hope 
for the future. They did not forget their homes 
on the breezy hills of the North and in the sunny 
valleys, nor the church-bell, nor the school-house, 
and other things dearer to them than life. They 
must fight to maintain them. Their liberties 
were assailed. They could not falter in such a 
contest. 

So they reflected as they sat by their camp- 
fires in the starry night, or lay upon the ground 
where their fathers achieved the last great victory 
which secured their independence. 

The corps commanded by General Heintzel- 
man, when it came into position before Yorktown, 
stood upon the ground which General Lincoln 
had occupied in the siege of 1781. General 
Sumner’s corps had the centre, and occupied the 
ground which Baron Steuben and General Clin- 
ton held in that siege. General Keyes’s corps 
came to the Warwick River, at Lee’s Mills, almost 
opposite the spot where General Washington had 
his head-quarters, while General Franklin was 
held in reserve to move up York River on 
transports when the enemy was driven from 
Yorktown. : 

General Heintzelman arrived in front of the 
works, and was greeted with shells from Magru- 


62 THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 


An important Telegram. What General McClellan said. 


der’s batteries. While the cannon were boom- 
ing on that afternoon of the 4th, the following 
brief telegram was sent over the wires from 
Washington to Fortress Monroe : — 

‘“‘ By direction of the President, General Mc- 
Dowell’s army corps has been detached from the 
force under your immediate command, and the 
General is ordered to report to the Secretary of 
War.” 

General McClellan received it on the 5th. He 
remarks : — 

“To me the blow was most discouraging. It — 
frustrated all my plans for impending operations. 
It fell when I was too deeply committed to with- 
draw. It left me incapable of continuing opera- 
tions which had been begun. It compelled the 
adoption of another, a different, and a less effec- 
tive plan of campaign. It made rapid and bril- 
liant operations impossible. It was a fatal error. 
It was now of course out of my power to turn 
Yorktown by West Point. I had therefore no 
choice left but to attack it directly in front as I 
best could with the force at my command.” * 

This brief despatch will demand the patient 
consideration of historians in the future, who, 
when the passions and prejudices of men have 
passed away, calmly and dispassionately review 
the causes of the failure of the Peninsular cam- 


* McClellan’s Report, p. 79. 


THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 63 


A Question for the Historian. 


paign. On one hand, it is alleged to have been 
the fatal error; that it was an unwarrantable in- 
terference, which made it impossible for General 
McClellan to conduct the campaign to a success- 
ful issue. 

On the other hand, it is asked how the presence 
of McDowell would have enabled him to go to 
West Point without the aid of the navy, which 
he could not have.* 

How did it compel the adoption of another 
plan, inasmuch as the order for the troops to 
advance and attack the works at Yorktown was 
issued on the 8d, and they marched on the 
4th, and were engaged with the enemy before 
General McClellan received the orders? It is 
claimed, therefore, that the issuing of the order 
was not a fatal error; that it did not compel the 
adoption of another plan; that no other plan 
was adopted; that it did not leave General Mc- 
Clellan incapable of continuing operations al- 
ready begun; that it did not deprive him of the 
power of taking West Point, inasmuch as he 
never had had the power; neither did it compel 
an attack directly in front, for that had already 
begun; and that the President in making the 
change was only enforcing the conditions on 
which he accepted the plan of a movement to 
the Peninsula,—the retention of a force suf- 


* See page 51. 


64. THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 


President Lincoln’s Letter. | How the Situation appeared to Gen. McClellan. 


ficient to cover Washington,— which General 
McClellan had not complied with. 

In the correspondence which passed between 
the President and General McClellan, the Presi- 
dent has this explanation and vindication of his 
course : — 

‘“ My explicit directions that Washington | 
should, by the judgment of all commanders of 
corps, be left entirely secure, had been entirely 
neglected. It was precisely this that drove me 
to detain McDowell. I do not forget that I was 
satisfied with your arrangement to leave Banks 
at Manassas Junction, but when that arrange- 
ment was broken up, and nothing was substi- 
tuted for it, of course I was not satisfied. 1 was 
constrained to substitute something for it. 

“¢ And now allow me to ask you: Do you really 
think I should permit the line from Richmond 
via Manassas Junction to this city to be entirely 
open, except what resistance could be presented 
by less than twenty thousand unorganized troops? 
This is a question which the country will not 
allow me to evade.” * 

It will be interesting to see how the situation 
was viewed by the commanders of the two armies 
on the Peninsula. General McClellan’s troops 
in front of the enemy, present and fit for duty, 
numbered one hundred thousand strong.{ He 


* President Lincoln’s letter, — Testimony, p. 321. 
{ Adjutant-General’s Report, — Testimony, p. 315. 


THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 65 


How it appeared to General Magruder. 


asked for reinforcements. He wrote thus to the 
Secretary of War :— 

“It seems clear that I shall have the whole 
force of the enemy on my hands, probably not 
less than one hundred thousand men, and prob- 
ably more. In consequence of the loss of Blen- 
ker’s division and the First Corps (McDowell’s), 
my force is possibly less than that of the enemy, 
while they have the advantage of position.” * 

‘*] was compelled,” says General Magruder, 
“to place in Gloucester Point, Yorktown, and 
Mulberry Island, fixed garrisons, amounting to 
six thousand men, my whole force being eleven 
- thousand; so that it will be seen that the balance 
of the line, embracing a length of thirteen miles, 
was defended by about five thousand men. On 
the 5th of April the enemy’s columns appeared 
along the whole front of my line. I have no 
accurate data upon which to base an exact state- 
ment of his force; but, from various sources of 
information, I was satisfied that I had before me 
the enemy’s Army of the Potomac, with the ex- 
ception of the two corps darmée of Banks and 
McDowell, forming an aggregate number cer- 
tainly of not less than one hundred thousand, 
since ascertained to have been one hundred and 
twenty thousand...... Thus with five thou- 
sand men, exclusive of the garrisons, we stopped 


* McClellan’s Report, p. 79. 


66 THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 


The Mud. Siege Operations. 


and held in check over one hundred thousand of 
the enemy. Every preparation was made in 
anticipation of another attack. The men slept 
in the trenches and under arms, but to my utter 
surprise he permitted day after day to elapse 
without an assault.” * 

Siege operations commenced, — spades, picks, 
and shovels were given to the troops, and they 
began to throw up the breastworks. It was a 
slow, tedious, laborious undertaking. The mud 
was very deep, the ground soft, and it rained 
nearly every day. The woods were very dense. 
There were new roads made. The brooks were 
bridged. Some of the soldiers made gabions, or 
baskets of wicker-work, for the batteries. The 
teams floundered through the mud axle-deep. 
Thousands of horses gave out from sheer exhaus- 
tion. When the breastworks were ready, the 
heavy guns, their carriages, and the ammunition 
had to be hauled. : : 

It was almost impossible to accomplish the 
work. The horses could not do it, and regi- 
ments of men were detailed to drag the cannon 
through the mud. 

The soldiers worked faithfully and enthusias- 
tically day and night, through drenching rains, 
lying down to sleep in their wet garments, up- 
on the water-soaked ground. Fever made its 


* Confederate Reports, Official, p. 516. 


THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 67 


Lee’s Mills. The Third Vermont. 


appearance, and thousands were sent to the hos- 
pitals, worn down by their hard labor and ex- 
posure. The bullets of the enemy killed very 
few of those noble men, but thousands sickened 
and died. 

While the batteries were getting ready, there 
was a spirited affair at Lee’s Mills on the 16th 
of April. General McClellan decided to make 
a reconnoissance at that point, and, if everything 
was favorable, to throw a portion of his force 
across the Warwick River, and gain a foothold 
upon the western shore. There was an old field 
on the east side of the stream, which was over- 
grown with young pines and oaks. A line of 
skirmishers, under cover of a heavy artillery fire, 
crept down through the pines to the edge of the 
stream. ‘The Rebel battery upon the other side 
answered the Union artillery with solid shot and 
shells. 

Colonel Hyde of the Third Vermont was ordered 
to cover the stream with two companies. The 
crossing was just below the dam, over which the 
water poured in a silver sheet. The creek was 
swollen with rains, but the sons of Vermont 
were not the men to falter. They plunged in up 
to their necks. Their ammunition was soaked, 
but they pushed on up the other bank, with a 
cheer. They were met by the Fifteenth North 
Carolina. They did not stop an instant, but 


68 THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 


The Repulse. Story of the Negroes. 


rushed upon the Carolinians, who fled to the 
rear in great confusion, and the Vermonters took 
possession of their rifle-pits. The commander 
of the Carolinians, Colonel McVining, fell mor- 
tally wounded, also many of his men, before the 
impetuous charge of the Green Mountaineers. 
But Rebel reinforcements were at hand. An- 
derson’s brigade advanced, and the handful of 
men was obliged to recross: the stream. The 
golden moment for throwing a division across 
and breaking the enemy’s line was lost. Later 
in the day a second attempt was made by the 
Fourth and Fifth Vermont regiments to cross 
upon the dam, but the Rebel batteries swept 
it, and the attempt was not successful. The 
losses during the day were about one hundred 
on each side. 

The month of April passed before the first 
slege guns were ready to open fire. Meanwhile 
Magruder was reinforced. On the first day of 
May a heavy battery near York River began to 
throw shells and solid shot into Yorktown. That 
night negroes came into General McClellan’s lines 
and reported that the Rebels were leaving York- 
town, but their story was not believed by the 
General. Preparations were made to open a fire 
from all the guns and mortars on the 4th of 
May. 

General Magruder kept close watch of the 


> 


THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. — - 69 


Evacuation of Yorktown. 


operations, and when General McClellan was 
ready, quietly retreated towards Williamsburg. 
He ordered his artillerymen to keep up a heavy 
fire through the night, to spike the guns just be- 
fore daybreak, and leave the place. So through 
the night there was a grand uproar of artillery 
along the Rebel lines. The gunners seemed to 
vie with each other to see which could fire most 
rapidly and throw away the most shot and shells. 
They took no aim, but fired at random towards 
the Union lines. 

At daybreak it was discovered that there was 
no sign of life or motion in the Rebel camp. 
The guns still looked frowningly from the fortifi- 
cations, tents were standing; but the troops were 
all gone, and Yorktown was deserted. 

They carried off all their light artillery, nearly 
all their provisions and supplies, but left fifty-two 
heavy guns in the intrenchments. They planted 
torpedoes, and connected them with wires and 
cords. A Union soldier hit his foot against a 
wire and an explosion followed, which blew off 
his legs. 

General Magruder, by showing a bold front, 
with eleven thousand men at first, had held an 
army of a hundred thousand in check, and 
gained a month of valuable time for prepara- 
tions for the defence of Richmond. 


CHAPTER V. 


BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 


The Town. ; Old Times. 


HE first battle in the Peninsular campaign 

of the Army of the Potomac was fought at 
Williamsburg, one of the oldest towns in Virginia. 
It was settled in 1632, and was capital of the 
Colony for many years before the Revolution. 
William and Mary’s College is there, which was 
endowed by the king and queen of England with 
twenty thousand acres of land, and a penny on 
every pound of tobacco sent out of the Colony, 
and duties on all the furs and skins. The college 
buildings were designed by Sir Christopher Wren, 
architect of St. Paul’s in London. 

The colonial governors resided at Williamsburg. 
The courts were held there. The government 
buildings were the noblest in America. The gov- 
ernor’s residence was a magnificent edifice, with a 
great estate of three hundred acres attached, laid 
out in lawns, parks, groves, flower-gardens, and 
peach-orchards. It was intersected by a brook. 
There were winding gravelled walks, shaded by 
oaks and lindens. 


BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 71 


Patrick Henry. Washington, 


On public occasions, and on birth-nights, there 
were grand receptions at the palace, as it was 
called, where all the public officers and gentlemen 
assembled to pay their respects to the governor. 
The judges and counsellors, in flowing robes and 
powdered wigs, the gentlemen of the Colony in 
broidered waistcoats, ruffled shirts, buff breeches, 
black stockings, and red, yellow, green, blue, or 
purple coats, with gold and silver shoe-buckles, 
and ladies in ‘silks and satins, rode up in their 
carriages, driven by coachmen, and attended by 
footmen in livery. 

During the sessions of the House of Burgesses 
there were gay times. The town was filled with 
visitors. The wealth, fashion, and refinement of 
the Colony gathered there. It was there in the 
House of Burgesses that Patrick Henry uttered 
the patriotic sentiment, — ‘Give me liberty, or 
give me death.” It was from Williamsburg that 
Sir William Berkeley wrote to the king’s commis- 
sioners, thanking God that there were no common 
schools or printing-presses in Virginia. Wash- 
ington, when but twenty-one years of age, 
mounted his horse at the palace-gate, for his. 
long journey to the head-waters of the Ohio, 
chosen by Governor Dinwiddie, out of all the 
aristocratic families of the Colony, to bear a mes- 
sage to the French commander in that far-off 
region ; and there, at the same gate, he dis- 
. 


72, BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 


Rebel Fortifications. General Stoneman. The Skirmish. 


mounted from his horse on the 22d of January, 
1754, having faithfully accomplished what he 
had undertaken. 

Kast of this old town, a small stream, which 
rises in the centre of the Peninsula, runs south- 
east and empties into College Creek. Very near 
the head-waters of this stream another has its 
rise, which runs north to the York River, and is 
called Queen’s Creek. On both streams there are 
mills. ‘The main road from Yorktown to Wil- 
liamsburg runs on the high land between the 
head-waters of the creeks. About a mile east 
of the town the road forks. General Magruder 
had thrown up a strong fortification at that point, 
which contained thirteen guns, and was called 
Fort Magruder. There were ten other earth- 
works which effectually commanded the roads, 
the ravines, and all the approaches from the east. 

In pursuing Magruder, General Stoneman, with 
the cavalry and Gibson’s battery, went up the 
Yorktown road, and came out of the dense for- 
est in front of Fort Magruder. The guns opened 
fire, throwing shells, which killed and wounded 
several of the cavalrymen. Gibson brought his 
battery into position and replied. The Sixth 
United States Cavalry moved on towards the 
fort, but were met by infantry and cavalry, and 
were compelled to fall back with the loss of thirty 
men. Gibson was obliged to move his guns, for 

* 


BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 1a 


Gibson loses a Gun. The Dismal Night. 


the batteries in the fort had the range of his posi- 
tion. The mud was deep, and one of the guns 
sunk to the axle. The horses tugged and pulled, 
but they also sunk. Other horses were added, 
but the ground was marshy, and gun and horses 
went still deeper. 

The Rebel gunners saw the confusion, and threw 
their shells upon the spot. Some burst harmlessly 
in the air, some fell into the mud, others tore up 
the ground and covered the artillerymen and team- 
sters with earth, others burst among the horses 
and men. The Rebel infantry came down upon 
the run, and Captain Gibson was obliged to leave. 

The night came on dark and dismal. The rain 
fell in torrents. The troops who had been march- 
ing all day were drenched. The roads were nar- 
row and muddy. There was a want of arrange- 
ment in the order of marching, and the divisions 
became confused. Wagons broke down, artil- 
lery sunk in the mire; but the troops were eager 
to get at the enemy, who had eluded their com- 
mander, first at Manassas, and now at Yorktown. 
They marched, some of them, till midnight, and 
then, without kindling a fire, lay down drenched, 
upon the dead forest leaves, having had no din- 
ner, and without a supper. The rain-drops drip- 
ped from the trees through the night, but the 
soldiers were in line at daybreak, ready to move 


again in pursuit of the enemy. 
4 


74 BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 


Position of the Troops. 


General Hooker being in advance upon the 
Lee’s Mills road, came upon the enemy’s pickets 
posted along a deep ravine above the mill-pond, 
on the stream which empties into College Creek. 

General Smith’s division, when the army ad- 
vanced from Yorktown, was on the Lee’s Mills 
road, but it moved towards the north and came 
in front of the enemy on the Yorktown road. 

General Hooker’s skirmishers, as soon as they 


BatTrLe OF WILLIAMSBURG. 


1 Hooker. 5 Hill. 
2 Hancock. 6 Fort Magruder. 
8 Sumner. 7 Williamsburg. 


4 Longstreet. 


BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 15 
Hooker’s Skirmishers. His Line of Battle. 

saw the enemy, dashed on and drove them across 
the ravine, and approached within musket-shot 
of the fort. The artillery in the fort opened 
with a rapid fire of shells, but the skirmishers 
concealed themselves in the underbrush, and 
gave so deadly a fire that they silenced the guns. 
No gunner could show his head without get- 
ting a ball through it. 

General Hooker formed his division in line of 
battle. His first brigade was commanded by 
General Sickles, and was composed of the First, 
Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Excelsior regi- 
ments from New York. His second brigade, 
General Grover’s, was composed of the First and 
Eleventh Massachusetts, Second New Hampshire, 
and Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania. The third brig- 
ade was composed of the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, 
and Kighth New Jersey regiments, and was com- 
manded by Colonel Starr,—zin all, about eight 
thousand men. 

The First Massachusetts had the left of the 
line, then the Second New Hampshire, Eleventh 
Massachusetts, with the Twenty-sixth Pennsyl- 
vania on the right. The other brigades did not 
arrive till nearly noon. They formed on the 
left of Grover’s brigade, towards the mill-pond. 

The Rebel force in position behind the forts 
is supposed to have been about thirty thousand, 
commanded by General Longstreet. A Rebel offi- 


16 BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 


The Rebel Force. Attack on Hooker’s Left Wing. 


cer states that it numbered not over twenty-five 
thousand.* 

During the forenoon but a small force con- 
fronted General Grover’s brigade, but in the 
afternoon dark columns appeared south of. the 
fort, and, advancing down the ravines, crossed 
the stream above the mill-pond. 

They attacked General Hooker’s left wing in 
great force. The skirmishers were driven in. 
Bramhall’s battery came into position as the 
enemy advanced. ‘Shell with short fuses!” 
shouted the captain to his gunners. 

The shells exploded in, around, and above the 
advancing columns, which still kept coming on. 
The musketry began, — quick and sharp volleys ; 
yet the lines came on, across the open space, 
through the woods. 

‘¢ Canister and spherical case!’ was the order 
to the gunners. The cannon spouted a deadly 
fire, filling the air with terrible hail. The Rebel 
lines were checked. Foiled in the attack upon 
the centre, they advanced once more upon the 
left flank, and the contest went on with increas- 
ing fury, like the rising of a winter tempest. 

Grover and Sickles held their ground tena- 
ciously, but were forced back inch by inch and 
step by step. 

* “Battle-Fields of the South, by an English Officer in the 
Confederate Army. London. 


. BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. iv 


Success of the Enemy. The Battle is lost. 


The contest was in the edge of the forest, over 
fallen trees, where men fell headlong in their 
endeavors to take new positions. The rain was 
falling, the ground was miry. The men were 
worn and weary; but they fought on, minding 
not hunger or thirst or exhaustion, calling for 
ammunition. Their cartridge-boxes were empty, 
but they would not turn their backs upon the 
enemy, or desert their comrades whose cartridges 
still held out. 

From noon till four o’clock General Hooker 
fought unaided. He sent to Sumner for rein- 
forcements, but Sumner felt that he could not 
spare any men from his front. He sent officers 
to bring up the brigades in the rear. 

General McClellan was at Yorktown, and did 
not know there was a battle going on till late in 
the day. 

The Rebels saw that Hooker received no rein- 
forcements, and pressed him heavily. His troops 
supporting some of the batteries gave way. The 
Rebels came on in a desperate charge, shot the 
horses, and five cannon fell into their hands. 

‘“‘ Reinforcements! I want reinforcements! ” 
was Hooker’s cry. The impetuous Kearney, 
whose division was the last to leave Yorktown, 
had heard the roar of battle, and rode ahead of 
his troops. He was an old soldier, had stormed 
the heights of Chepultepec, and was with Louis 


78 BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 


General Berry. 


Napoleon in the great battle of Solferino. He 
started back to hasten forward his division, but 
it was already advancing. 

The brave, energetic, resolute Berry, who com- 
manded one of Kearney’s brigades, met an aid 
of General Sumner’s. 

‘* Who is engaged at the front?” he asked. 

‘“¢ Hooker is at it.” 

“Ts he supported by Sumner?” 

‘“‘No. Sumner is taking position farther to 
the right.” 

The road was filled with teams, and troops of 
other brigades belonging to Sumner’s corps. 
Berry looked at the blockade a moment, then 
said to a captain of one of his batteries, — 

‘“‘ Captain, go ahead and clear the road for my 
brigade.” 

“Let the march be upon the double-quick,”’ 
was the order sent down the line. 

“Clear the road!” was the authoritative order 
sent up the line. The troops, the wagons, the 
artillery, the ambulances, turned aside, and the 
brigade went on. 

His quick ear caught the sound of musketry, 
—a constant, steady rattle, like the pattering of 
the rain-drops on the dead leaves. 

‘‘ Throw aside your knapsacks, and place a 
guard over them,’ was his order. The men, 
panting for breath, came to a halt, threw their 


BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 79 


General Kearney. Berry’s Arrival. His Attack. 


heavy knapsacks into a heap, and went on again, 
faster than before. 

Kearney met them. ‘“ You have done well, 
General,”’ was his salutation to Berry. He stim- 
ulated the men, and fired their ardor with his own 
wild enthusiasm. ‘They rushed on through by- 
paths, across pastures and fields. 

Hooker’s line was giving way. It had been 
pushed back a mile, had lost a portion of its 
guns, and the exultant enemy were advancing 
for a decisive, a finishing stroke. Many had fired 
their last round of ammunition, and stood with 
empty muskets. How earnestly they looked 
towards the rear to see if the promised aid was 
ever to arrive! . 

Help at last. A dark column comes through 
the woods upon the run. A wild, tumultuous 
cheer rends the air. The men who are ready to 
drop from sheer exhaustion, who have confronted 
the enemy through the lagging hours, feel new 
strength as Berry sweeps past them, deploys his 
line right and left, and becomes a living barrier 
between them and the tide already rolling on 
over the bloody field. ‘The enemy advances, but 
whole ranks go down before the deadly volleys 
given point-blank into their faces by that body of 
men whose brows are wet with the sweat of their 
fast running. The breaker is broken. The wave 
which was ready to sweep Hooker from the face 


80 BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 


How Captain Smith led the Charge. The Hero of the Day. 


of the earth, instead of setting onward, begins to 
recede. It is beaten down before the fiery breath 
pouring like a furnace blast from the three thou- 
sand muskets. 

The Rebels retreat. Berry advances. His 
volleys are steady and regular. Nothing can 
daunt his men. They feel that they are a power. 
Kearney sees that the time has come to decide 
the day. 

“Give them the bayonet!” is the thrilling 
order which rings along the line. 

An officer, young in years, fair of countenance, 
polished in manner, who has travelled at home 
and abroad, the same who in the silent hours of 
the last night at Yorktown wrote his last will and 
testament, the adjutant of General Berry, leads 
the men from Michigan. His voice rings loud 
and clear above the wild uproar. The men fol- 
low where he leads, into the leaden rain. They 
fall by scores, but on —on —on,— over the bloody 
field, — over fallen friends and foes, — they press 
the foe, regaining the ground, the lost cannon, — 
the victory ! 

“You are the hero of the day,’’ said Kearney 
to Captain Smith, who had led the charge so gal- 
lantly, as he returned and reported for further 
duty, his clothes torn by the bullets of the enemy. 

While this was transpiring on the left, there 
. was its counterpart on the right. 


BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 81 


General Hancock’s Position. His Messages. 


General Hancock was detached by General 
Smith to cross the milldam at Queen’s Creek, 
and attack the Rebels in that direction. He 
crossed the stream with the Sixth Maine, Fourth 
Wisconsin, Forty-ninth Pennsylvania, and Forty- 
third New York, Wheeler’s battery, and a squad- 
ron of cavalry. 

He came upon a small party of Rebels, who 
rapidly retreated. 

‘1 can go to Fort Magruder if well supported,” 
was the despatch he sent back to General Smith. 

He could see the fort across the open plain, 
smoking and flaming and throwing shells upon 
Hooker’s command. General Smith sent the 
message to General Sumner, requesting permis- 
sion to send supports. 

‘“¢ Stay where you are,” was the reply. 

Again Hancock sent for permission to go on. 
Smith sent the request to Sumner. 

‘* Go,” was the welcome answer. 

The troops were on the march, when an aid 
from Sumner stopped the movement. The Rebels 
were threatening an attack on the centre. 

‘J want more force to support us. The enemy 
is coming in superior force to attack me,’’ was 
Hancock’s third message. 

His position was in a field near a farm-house, 
where the Rebels had thrown up a square redoubt, 


which they had abandoned. 
4* 


82 BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 


The Rebels attack him. Wheeler’s Battery. 


From the farm-house to the woods west of it 
there was a rail-fence. Hancock threw out his 
skirmishers towards Fort Magruder, beyond the 
farm-house. Wheeler’s battery was brought up 
and placed upon a knoll near the house. The 
Fifth Wisconsin and Forty-Third New York 
were stationed west of the house behind the 
fence. The Forty-ninth Pennsylvania was placed 
behind the house. Two companies of the Sixth 
Maine held the abandoned redoubt, while the 
other companies of that regiment were placed in 
support of the battery. 

Two brigades of Rebels marched out from the 
forest into the field. Wheeler’s battery opened 
with shells. The Rebels were half a mile distant, 
but, notwithstanding the fire, they moved steadily 
and rapidly over the intervening space. The 
skirmishers which had been thrown out from 
Hancock returned to the lines. The Rebels were 
near enough for canister, and the six pieces of 
cannon threw it into the advancing line. The 
Rebel cavalry dashed upon the Fifth Wisconsin, 
but only to lose a dozen men and horses. The 
infantry were close upon Wheeler, who covered 
the hillock with a murky cloud. Suddenly his 
fire ceased, then with whip and spur and shout the 
pieces went to the rear and took a new position 
and opened again. The regiments by the fence 
fell back and closed up in closer order. The 


BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 83 


The Charge. The Victory. 


Rebels again advanced, and the musketry began. 
The fight was at short range. The battery fired 
shell, canister, and shrapnel, and made terrible 
havoc. 

Hancock saw that the moment for decisive 
action had come. He waved his cap to his troops. 
The officers along the line understood the mean- 
ing of the signal. They spoke but one magical 
word. The men, as if animated by an electric 
impulse, moved towards the enemy. ‘Their bay- 
onets became a gleaming, glittering, bristling, 
moving hedge. They broke into a run. Each 
man felt the enthusiasm of the moment. They 
heeded not the deadly volleys, but went on 
through the storm, with a cheer louder than the 
roar of the battle. 

The Rebels did not wait to receive the blow, 
but fled in confusion from the field. 

It was a glorious moment. Berry at that in- 
stant was throwing in a living barrier against the 
flood which had swept Hooker back. The battle 
was won. Nightcameon. It had rained through 
the day, and the men, victorious at last, lay down 
to sleep upon the field, while the Rebels fled 
towards Richmond, leaving several cannon, many 
wagons, and several hundred of their wounded 
in Williamsburg. 

The total Union loss was two thousand two 
hundred and eighty-eight. The loss to the Rebels 


84 BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 


Consternation at Richmond. Letter from Jeff Davis’s Niece. . 


was from two thousand five hundred to three 
thousand. 

‘‘Our loss amounted to about two thousand 
five hundred,” says the chaplain of the Fourth 
Texas. 

When the news of the battle reached Richmond 
there was great consternation, which was in- 
creased by the news of the blowing up of the — 
Merrimack on the morning of the 11th of May. 

‘‘In the President’s mansion about this time 
all was consternation and dismay,” says Pollard, 
the Southern historian.* 

Jefferson Davis’s niece wrote a letter to a friend 
in Vicksburg, but the mail-bag was captured by 
the Yankee pickets. 

‘“¢ General Johnston,” said the young lady, “is 
falling back from the Peninsula, and Uncle Jeff 
thinks we had better go to a safer place than 
Richmond. O mother! Uncle Jeff is miserable. 
He tries to be cheerful and bear up against such 
a continuation of troubles, but oh! I fear he can- 
not live long, if he does not get some rest and 
quiet. 

‘‘Qur reverses distressed him so much, and he 
is so weak and feeble, it makes my heart ache to 
look at him. He knows that he ought to send 
his wife and children away, and yet he cannot 
bear to part with them, and we all dread to leave 


* Southern History of the War, Vol. II. p. 31. 


BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 85 


How “Uncle Jeff” felt. Mrs. Davis tears up her Carpets. 


him too. Varina and I had a hard cry about it 
to-day. 

**Q, what a blow the fall of New Orleans was! 
It like to have set us all crazy here. Every- 
body looks depressed, and the cause of the Con- 
federacy looks drooping and sinking; but if God 
is with us, who can be against us? Our troops - 
are not doing as well as we expected...... 
The regiments most apt to run are from North 
Carolina and Tennessee...... I am afraid that 
Richmond will fall into the hands of the enemy, 
as there is no way to keep back the gunboats. 
James River is so high that all obstructions are 
in danger of being washed away, so that there is 
no help for the city...... 

“Uncle Jeff was confirmed last Tuesday in St. 
Paul’s Church, by Bishop Johns. He was bap- 
tized at home in the morning, before Church.” * 

The Confederate Congress adjourned hastily. 
They sent off their families. The railroad trains 
' going out were crowded with passengers. The 
public documents were boxed up and sent away. 
Mrs. Jefferson Davis took down her window-cur- 
tains, tore up the carpets, packed her silver plate 
and pictures, and left the city.t The Treasury 
Department removed its printing-presses to Geor- 
gia, and everybody prepared to leave the city, 


* Southern History, Vol. II. p. 31. 
t Estvan’s War Pictures from the South, p. 271. 


86 BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 


James River open. What a Rebel Officer said. 


which they feared was doomed to fall into the 
hands of the Yankees. 

When the Merrimack was blown up, the James 
River was open to the gunboats to Fort Darling, 
within ten milesof Richmond. The fort mounted 
four guns. Three of the gunboats bombarded it 
on the 13th, but were not able to silence the 
guns. 

General McClellan’s transports were at York- 
town and Fortress Monroe,—an immense fleet. 
His army was within five miles of the James. 
It will be for the future historian to inquire 
whether the army ought not to have been sent 
up the James instead of the Chickahominy. 

After the battle of Antietam, a wounded Rebel 
officer who was left behind when Lee retreated, 
and who was General Magruder’s Adjutant-Gen- 
eral, conversed freely upon the Peninsular cam- ~ 
paign. 

‘¢ We were very much surprised at Yorktown,” 
he said, “ when we saw General McClellan make 
preparations for a siege.” 

** Indeed!” 

‘Yes, for we were ready to retreat at any 
moment. We had only a handful of men com- 
pared with his great army.” 

“How many men had Magruder at that 
time ?”’ 

‘‘Not more than nine thousand and five hun- 


BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 87 


Magruder’s Tactics. 


dred fit for duty, and they were strung out on 
a line thirteen miles long, from Gloucester to 
James River. If General McClellan had acted 
with vigor, and pushed our centre as soon as he 
landed, he could have trampled us all down in 
the mud.” 

“But you had a large number of cannon, 
which swept the approaches, and could have 
inflicted great damage.” 

‘“‘He could have covered his real attack by 
feints on distant parts of the line, and Magru- 
der’s force was so small that he could not have 
resisted an earnest attack. The woods were so 
dense that McClellan could have effectually con- 
cealed all his movements.” 

“Some of General McClellan’s officers were 
in favor of advancing at once.” 

“It was, in my judgment, if you will allow a 
Rebel to criticise your generals,” said the officer 
with a smile, ‘‘ his first mistake.” 

‘*Then you think it was a mistake on the part 
of General McClellan.” 

“ Yes,-for Lee’s army had not reached us. 
Every day’s delay on the part of General Mc- 
Clellan gave us reinforcements. It gave us time 
to fortify Richmond. The Confederate army 
was much reduced at that time. The term of 
enlistments of many regiments had expired, and 
the Conscription Act had not been enforced. 


88 BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 


What might have been done. General Huger. 


The fortunes of the Confederacy at that time 
were not very bright, I must confess. Hven the 
Confederate Congress closed its session and left 
Richmond, and, had it not been for McClellan’s 
delay and the energy with which troops from all 
quarters were conscripted and rushed into Rich- 
mond, it would have gone hard with us. And 
when we evacuated Yorktown, General McClellan 
did not do as J should have done, had I com- 
manded you Yankees.” 

“ Ah! how so?” 

“The Virginia, or the Merrimack, as you 
call her, was blown up on the 10th. It was a 
bitter pill to us, and if I were Jefferson Davis I 
would hang old Huger, who commanded at Nor- 
folk, for his cowardly conduct in evacuating the 
place. When the Merrimack was destroyed, Gen- 
eral McClellan, instead of following us up the 
Peninsula through the mud, ought to have re- 
embarked his troops and made all haste up the 
James. Your gunboats went up to Fort Darling 
and got smashed, but if he had landed below the 
Fort he could have carried it from the rear with 
his infantry, for we had few troops there. He 
could have then brought his gunboats to Rich- - 
mond ahead of us who were paddling in the mud 
of the Chickahominy.”’ 

‘*T suppose that General McClellan did what 
he thought was best at the time.” 


BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 89 


The Soldier’s Gratitude. 


“Probably ; but it happened to be the very best 
movement he could have made for us,” said the 
officer, with a smile. 

There was much suffering in the hospitals on 
the Peninsula. The medical department was not 
well organized, but the delegates of the Christian 
and Sanitary Commissions were present, and saved 
the lives of many men.’ 

They saw a soldier in a tent one day who was 
fast passing away. He had fought his last battle 
with the enemy of his country. He was a noble 
man, but he was worn out by disease. He had 
worked in the slimy swamps, on the fortifications, 
and was covered with filth. He had lost all his 
strength, and was so weak that he could not raise 
his hand to his head. They washed him, changed 
his clothing, lifted him from the damp ground 
and placed him on a cot, gave him nourishing 
food, talked to him of home, of mother, of Jesus, 
his best friend, of a better world. ‘The soldier 
tried to thank them, but was too weak to articu- 
late the words. He could only take the chap- 
lain’s hand, press it to his cheek, and bathe it 
with tears of gratitude. 

Thus the friends at home, by their Christian 
sympathy and charity, sustained and comforted 
the brave defenders of their country, in their 
last hours. 


CHAPTER VI. 


ON THE CHICKAHOMINY. 


The Advance to the Chickahominy. Order to General McDowell. 


N the 16th of May the whole army, with the 
exception of Hooker’s division, which re- 
mained at Williamsburg, was at the White House 
on the Pamunkey, where a permanent depot was 
established. The cavalry under General Stone- 
man, and the infantry pickets, were on the banks 
of the Chickahominy. 

General McClellan called for reinforcements. 
In response, the President informed him, on the 
18th, that General McDowell had been ordered 
to march from Fredericksburg to join him by the 
shortest route, but was also ordered to keep him- 
self in position to cover Washington, and General 
McClellan was instructed to open communication 
with him. 

“This order,” says General McClellan, “ ren- 
dered it impossible for me to use the James River 
as a line of operations, and forced me to establish 
our depots on the Pamunkey, and to approach 
Richmond from the north. It frustrated the plan 
of the campaign.” 


ON THE CHICKAHOMINY. 91 


The Eleventh Maine at Bottom’s Bridge. Position of the Troops. 


It will be for the future historian to determine 
whether the order to General McDowell to move 
overland compelled General McClellan to take the 
Chickahominy route, and frustrated the plan of the 
campaign, or whether, on the other hand, he had 
not chosen the route, by moving from Williams- 
burg on the 10th, and establishing his head-quar- 
ters and depots at White House, and throwing out 
his cavalry and pickets to Bottom’s Bridge on the 
Chickahominy on the 16th, two days before the 
orders were issued. 

The Chickahominy River runs north of Rich- 
mond, flows southeast, and becomes an affluent 
of the James above Williamsburg. It is fringed 
with forests and bordered by marshy lands, which 
at high water become impassable swamps, but at 
low water the stream is fordable in many places. 
The Rebels destroyed all the bridges as they re- 
treated to Richmond. 

The army came to the river at Bottom’s Bridge. 
The Eleventh Maine was in the advance. They 
were brave, hardy men, from the lumber-swamps 
of the Pine-Tree State. The Rebel pickets saw 
them, set the bridge on fire, and fled. The Maine 
men gave them a volley, rushed forward, used 
their caps for fire-buckets, and extinguished the 
flames, and with their axes soon had it repaired 
for the use of the army. 

Heintzelman’s and Keyes’s corps crossed to the 


92 ON THE CHICKAHOMINY. 


The Movement. Beginning of the Fight. 


southern bank, while the other corps pushed up 
the northern bank, towards Coal Harbor and 
Mechanicsville. 


THE AFFAIR AT HANOVER COURT-HOUSE. 


Fourteen miles north of Richmond is Hanover 
Court-House. A Rebel force was stationed there, 
commanded by General Branch. On the 27th 
of May, General Fitz-John Porter, with Emory’s 
brigade of cavalry, and Martindale’s, Butter- 
field’s, McQuade’s, and Warren’s brigades of in- 
fantry, proceeded to drive the Rebels from the 
place, and make a junction with McDowell. At 
noon General Emory, with the cavalry, came upon 
the enemy about two miles east of the Court- 
House, where the road forks,—the right hand 
road leading to the Court-House, the left hand 
to Ashland. 

Berdan’s sharpshooters and Martindale’s brig- 
ade were near by, and General Porter formed in 
line of battle. The sharpshooters were thrown 
forward as skirmishers. Benson’s battery came 
into position in a field on the right-hand side of 
the road, and commenced throwing shells over 
the heads of the sharpshooters. 

The Rebels were posted on a hill near a farm- 
house, —their line reaching across both roads. 
General Martindale went up the Ashland road, 
driving in the skirmishers. The soldiers heard 


ON THE CHICKAHOMINY. 93 


The Fight on the Ashland Road. Oapturing a Gun. 


the whistle of a locomotive, and saw a train of 
cars upon the Virginia Central road bringing 
reinforcements to the Rebels. Captain Griffin’s 
batteries were brought up, and a vigorous fire 
opened upon the railroad. The Twenty-second 
Massachusetts and Second Maine were thrown 
forward to the railroad. They tore up the track, 
and cut the telegraph-wire, under cover of the 
heavy fire of the artillery. 

While this was transpiring on the Ashland 
road, there was a sharp contest on the road lead- 
ing to Hanover. The Rebel infantry, concealed 
in the woods, opened a rapid fire upon the Twen- 
ty-fifth New York, which killed Lieutenant Fisk 
and wounded Lieutenant-Colonel Savage, and a 
number of the men. The Rebels sprang from the 
woods upon the regiment, and captured several 
prisoners. Colonel Johnson, commanding the 
regiment, fell back upon the reserve, which was 
coming into position in the rear, composed of 
the Seventeenth New York, Highty-third Penn- 
sylvania in the front line, and the Twelfth New 
York and Sixteenth Michigan in the second. 
They charged over the field, through the hollow, 
up the slope beyond, and came upon the Rebel 
batteries by the farm-house so rapidly, and with 
such force, that they captured a twelve-pound 
gun, which the enemy had not time to remove. 
The Rebels retreated towards the Court-House, 


94 . ON THE CHICKAHOMINY. 


Porter attacked in the Rear. Rout of the Rebels. 


followed by the cavalry, and all the artillery and 
infantry except Martindale’s brigade. General 
Martindale sent two of his regiments up the rail- 
road to join the main force at the Court-House, 
while he remained with the Second Maine, 
Twenty-fifth New York, a portion of the Forty- 
fourth New York, and two guns of Martin’s 
battery. 

While waiting and resting with this small 
- force, after the exciting encounter of the after- 
noon, he was suddenly attacked by the Rebels, 
who greatly outnumbered him, and who by a 
surprise hoped to rout and defeat him, and cut 
off General Porter from the main command. 
But for more than an hour he held his ground, 
till the column which had gone to the Court- 
House turned back and rejoined him. 

As soon as General Porter heard the firing, he 
moved the Thirteenth and Fourteenth New York 
and Griffin’s batteries down the road upon the 
double-quick. The Ninth Massachusetts and 
Sixty-second Pennsylvania were sent through 
the woods, across the angle between the Han- 
over and Ashland roads, while the Highty-third 
Pennsylvania and Sixteenth Michigan pushed 
down the railroad. The troops last named 
moved with great rapidity. They came sud- 
denly upon the left flank of the enemy. The 
Rebels evidently were not expecting to be at- 


ON THE CHICKAHOMINY. 95 


The Result. Work in the Swamps. 


tacked from that quarter. They fled through 
the woods in great confusion. The cavalry rode 
among them, and hundreds threw down their 
arms and gave themselves up as prisoners. | 

General McClellan, in his Report, thus speaks 
of this gallant affair: ‘Some two hundred of the 
enemy’s dead were buried by our troops, seven 
hundred and thirty prisoners sent to the rear, 
one twelve-pound howitzer, one caisson, a large 
number of small arms, and two railroad trains 
captured.’ The Union loss amounted to fifty- 
three killed and three hundred and forty-four 
wounded and missing. 

The force encountered was General Branch’s 
division of North Carolina and Georgia troops, 
numbering about nine thousand. Their camp at 
Hanover Court-House was taken and destroyed. 

General Porter fell back to Coal Harbor. The 
engineers made a survey of the Chickahominy 
and of the approaches to Richmond, and began 
to build bridges across the stream and throw up 
earthworks. 

The days were hot and sultry. There were 
heavy thunder-storms, succeeded by intense heat. 
The soldiers were provided with axes and shovels, 
and were set to work in the dark, miry swamps, 
working all day up to their waists in the muddy 
water. Disease in all its frightful forms of fever 
and dysentery made its appearance. The air 


96 ON THE CHICKAHOMINY. 


The Soldier and his Sister. 


was full of malaria. Hundreds died and thou- 
sands were sent to the hospitals. 

One day a fine youth, who with ardor and en- 
thusiasm had enlisted as a soldier, was brought 
into the hospital. He had been taken violently 
and suddenly with fever while in the marshes. 
The nurses laid him on a cot, gave him cold wa- 
ter, bathed his hot brows. He had a likeness of 
his mother, who had gone into the better land, 
and of his sister, who was far away in his pleasant 
home, in a gold locket on hisneck. He dreamed 
and talked of home, and said, ‘‘I have a sister 
on my heart, —a sister on my heart, —a sister, 
— a sister.” 

The disease made rapid progress. The fever 
burned within,—a consuming flame which, be- 
fore sunrise, had devoured all his young life.. 
He was buried in the afternoon beneath the for- 
est trees. 

It was wearing work, the bridge-building, the 
construction of roads, and throwing up of in- 
trenchments. Besides, there was the necessity 
of keeping close watch upon the enemy. If there 
were sad scenes, there were also amusing inci- 
dents. . 

A party of Maine boys, on picket, one day, saw 
a pair of wagon-wheels. Not far off were the 
Rebel pickets, in an open field. The Down-East 
Yankees thought they would have some fun. 


ON THE CHICKAHOMINY. 97 


The Mock Cannon. 


They mounted a log upon the wheels, brought 
the mock cannon into position. One of them pre- 
tended to sponge it, another put in the cartridge, 
a third primed, a fourth sighted it, while a fifth 
stood ready to fire. The Rebels watched the op- 
eration a moment, and then scampered for the 
woods to get under cover! The Maine boys did 
not fire, but had a merry chuckle among them- 
selves, and a hearty laugh with their comrades 
when they told the story in camp. 


Od Sst cord bat tant We bs Fy 
FAIR OAKS. 


The Place. Seven Pines. 


EVEN miles from Richmond, near the York 

River Railroad, there is a grove of oaks, so 
ereen, so beautiful and fair, that the railroad sta- 
tion has received the name of Fair Oaks. A high- 
way from Richmond crosses the railroad near the 
station called the Nine-Mile Road. The railroad 
runs east and the Nine-Mile Road southeast. 
The. highway from Richmond to Williamsburg 
runs parallel to the railroad about a mile south 
of it, and is crossed by the Nine-Mile Road, a 
mile southeast from Fair Oaks. At the junction 
of the two highways are seven pines, standing in 
a cluster on the south side of the Williamsburg 
road. 

The country around is level and covered main- 
ly by a dense forest, but there is cleared land 
along the Williamsburg road toward Richmond. 
On the 23d of May, General Keyes was ordered 
to advance to Fair Oaks and hold the position. 
General Couch’s division was halted at Seven 
Pines, while Casey’s was thrown forward to Fair 


FAIR OAKS. 99 


The Troops. The Thunder-Storm. The Plan of Attack. 


Oaks, encamped on Baker’s farm. General Keyes 
cut down the trees in front of his line beyond 
Fair Oaks to form an abattis. They were also 
felled in front of Couch. 

On Friday night, the 30th of May, there was a 
terrific thunder-storm. The heavens were sheets 
of flame, and the clouds poured torrents of water 
which deluged the country and flooded the Chick- 
ahominy. 

Karly in the morning on Saturday, the 31st, it 
was whispered in the Rebel camp that General 
Johnston was going to attack the Yankees who 
were South of the Chickahominy.* 

‘¢ In such weather ?”’ it was asked. 

‘““The bridges are washed away, and it is im 
possible for McClellan to send over his right and 
centre to the assistance of his left. His army 
is divided, and we can crush the force on the 
south side before he can reinforce it,’’ was the 
answer. | 

General Huger’s division moved out from Rich- 
mond at six o’clock, taking the Charles City road, 
which is south of the Williamsburg road, and 
which runs south of White-Oak Swamp. He 
was to make a long and rapid march east, then 
turn north, cross the Swamp, gain the rear of 
General Couch, and cut off his retreat to Bottom’s 
Bridge. He was to reach his position and begin 


* Battle-Fields of the South. 


100 FAIR OAKS. 


President Davis. Longstreet begins the Attack. 


the attack at eight o’clock. General Longstreet’s 
division moved down the Williamsburg road and 
halted in the woods. General Whiting moved 
down the Nine-Mile Road and halted in the woods 
in front of Fair Oaks. 

President Davis and his Cabinet went out with 
Longstreet to see the fight. Hight o’clock — nine 
o’clock — ten — passed, and there was no sound 
of Huger’s guns. He was toiling in the mud, 
moving at a snail’s pace. Longstreet and Whit- 
ing were impatiently waiting, concealed from ob- 
servation in the woods. . 

At ten o’clock, General Keyes’s pickets cap- 
tured an aid of General Johnston in the edge of 
the woods. He was brought before General 
Keyes. While the General was talking with him, 
two musket-shots were fired in the woods, which 
produced an emotion in the young officer so 
marked that it was noticed by General Keyes, 
who feared that something might be going on in 
his front, and who immediately issued orders for 
his ‘troops to be under arms. 

Eleven o’clock came, and General Longstreet, 
getting out of patience at Huger’s delay, ordered 
his troops to advance and begin the attack. His 
skirmishers went through the woods quickly, and 
came upon Casey’s skirmishers on the Williams- 
burg road, and the firing began. But his regi- 
ments were slow in getting on. His artillery 
sank in the mud. 


FAIR OAKS. 101 


Casey’s Line. 


The rapid increase of the fire along the picket 
line alarmed General Keyes, who made quick 
preparations for whatever might happen. 

Casey’s division faced towards Richmond ; Nag- 
lee’s brigade was on the railroad, — two regiments 
north of it; Wessell’s brigade was in the centre, 


BattrLe or Farr Oaks. * 


Union Troops. REBEL TROOPS. 
1 Casey’s division. 5 Whiting. 
2 Couch’s “ 6 Longstreet, 
3 Heintzelman’s corps. 7 Anderson. 
4 Sumner’s aS 
8 Fair Oaks. 9 Seven Pines. 


* The diagram represents the position of the troops at the beginning of the 
battle. ¢ 


102 FAIR OAKS. 


The Attack. 


near ‘‘ Fair Oaks,’’ and Palmer’s was on the left, 
south of the Williamsburg road. Spratt’s bat- 
tery was near the Oaks. Regan’s battery was in 
rear of Spratt’s. Bates’s battery was south of the 
Williamsburg road, in a redoubt, while Fitch’s 
battery was in rear of the redoubt. Couch’s di- 
vision at Seven Pines was lying with Graham’s 
brigade between the Williamsburg road and the 
railroad, Devens’s brigade on the Williamsburg 
road, and Peck’s brigade on the left. 

Up to twelve o’clock there was little firing 
except by the pickets, and the men in Casey’s 
command laid aside their arms and prepared to 
eat dinner. Soon after noon two shells were 
thrown into Casey’s camp. 

Suddenly there was a heavy roll of musketry 
in the woods. Officers sprang to their feet. They 
knew that it portended trouble. There was a 
quick saddling of horses and buckling on of belts. 
Orders were issued in imperious tones. 

The men left their coffee-pots and plates of 
rice, seized their guns, and formed in line. 

Casey’s division was composed of undisciplined 
troops which had joined the army after its arrival 
upon the Peninsula. The men had had no ex- 
perience, and yet they were placed in advance, 
nearest the enemy,—an oversight which was 
dearly paid for. 

The force which Johnston had brought out 


FAIR OAKS. 103 


General Sumner hears the Firing. 


numbered not far from thirty thousand. Casey’s 
division numbered not far from seven thousand. 
Like an avalanche was the advance of the Rebels 
upon this small, undisciplined force. Generals 
Anderson, D. H. Hill, Jenkins, Pegram, and 
Wilcox swept along the Williamsburg road, strik- 
ing Palmer’s brigade on the left flank. 

General Casey’s pickets were but a short dis- 
tance from camp, and they came streaming back 
in confusion, followed by the Rebels in masses. 
General Keyes saw that it Was no feint, but an 
attack by an overwhelming force. He despatched 
a messenger to General Heintzelman, who was 
behind him towards Bottom’s Bridge, for rein- 
forcements. The firing became quick and heavy. 
General Sumner, three miles distant across the 
Chickahominy, heard it, and ordered his com- 
mand underarms. The Aid sent to Heintzelman 
lost his way in the woods, and was a long while 
in bearing the important message. Keyes saw 
that there was danger on Casey’s left, south of 
the Williamsburg road, where the Rebels were 
appearing in great force, and he ordered Peck’s 
brigade of Couch’s division to advance and sup- 
port Palmer. Spratt’s battery, near Fair Oaks, 
opened upon the Rebels as they came through 
the woods on the right, supported by the Eleventh 
Maine, One Hundredth New York, One Hundred 
and Fourth Pennsylvania, and Ninety-Second 
New York. 


104 FAIR OAKS. 


Casey’s Guns. Naglee advances. 


In the centre, the One Hundred and Third 
Pennsylvania was sent forward to sustain the 
pickets, but quickly returned in confusion. 

The Rebel lines came into the open field, fol- 
lowing the retreating pickets. All of Casey’s 
guns opened with canister, and the fire was so 
severe that General Hill ordered his men to lie 
down, as it was impossible to advance in the face 
of such a storm.* General Hill dismounted from 
his horse, and criticised the fire of the different 
batteries. Longstreet’s line was more than a 
mile in extent, and yet Huger and Whiting had 
not fired a cartridge. The fire was so terrible 
from the batteries, and from Palmer’s, Wessell’s, 
and Naglee’s lines, that Longstreet changed his 
plan of attack, and, instead of advancing directly 
upon the centre, attacked on both flanks. Some 
of his regiments filed towards the south, and 
crept through the bushes unseen by Casey. The 
others moved north, some in front of Naglee, 
and prepared to charge upon Spratt’s battery. 
General Casey saw the plan. He rode along 
the line, called upon three of Naglee’s regiments 
to drive the enemy into the woods. There was a 
rail-fence between the combatants, but the troops 
sprang over it with a cheer, formed in line, and 
fought the enemy face to face. The battle raged 
with great fury around the Oaks. 


* Battle-Fields of the South, Vol. II. p. 4. 


FAIR OAKS. 105 


The Rush for Spratt’s Battery. The Guns captured. — 


The enemy was held in check a few minutes 
by the three regiments, but, being superior, ad- 
vanced once more, firing as they came on. Nag- 
lee held his ground till the fighting was at close 
quarters, — till some of the Eleventh Maine were 
bayoneted. The order to retreat was given, and 
the lines fell back, followed closely by the enemy, 
who made a rush for Spratt’s battery, and cap- 
tured one of the guns. 

Elated, the Rebels halted to reform their lines, 
before pushing on to other successes. But while 
reforming, Bates and Fitch opened wide gaps in 
their ranks at every discharge of grape and can- 
ister. Once more they came on, shouting and 
screaming, and delivering their volleys and re- 
ceiving the steady fire streaming from the rifles 
of Naglee’s line, reinforced now by a regiment 
from General Peck’s brigade of Couch’s di- 
vision. 

Their line of march is from southwest to 
northeast. They come upon the left of Naglee’s 
position, curling round his flank, and pouring a 
cross fire into the rifle-pits. Colonel Bailey, 
Major Van Valkenburg, and Adjutant Ramsey 
of the artillery are killed, other officers are 
wounded. The advancing host leap over the 
slight earthworks, seize the guns, and prepare to 
turn them upon the backs of the men on Naglee’s 


_right. It is no use to contend for the ground or 
5 ¥ 


106 FAIR OAKS. 


Couch engaged. He is cut off. 


the guns against the superior force, and the men 
fall back once more. Casey’s whole line also 
retreats to that held by General Couch. 

Up to this moment, Longstreet’s grand divis- 
ion only has been engaged; but two regiments 
of General Couch’s division, who are moving up 
the railroad to support Naglee, see across the 
field beyond the Fair Oaks long lines of men, — 
some standing in battle line, and others advan- 
cing in column along the railroad. It is Whit- 
ing, who is deploying his forces from the Nine- 
Mile Road. 

General Couch is made acquainted with the 
fact. He sends for the other two regiments of 
the brigade. Whiting pours his troops into the 
gap between Naglee and Couch, and cuts off the 
four regiments from the troops at Seven Pines. 

The regiments thus isolated are thrown back 
towards Grape-Vine Bridge. 

While this is transpiring on the right, there is 
disaster in the centre, and on the left. The 
Rebels there are pushing on. Keyes rallies his 
troops. He sends forward regiment after regi- 
ment from his second line, to strengthen that in’ 
front, to hold his ground if possible, but it is 
growing thin. It sways to and fro, and breaks 
at last. It crumbles, piecemeal, — the troops 
hastening towards the Seven Pines. He has one 
regiment still in reserve, —the Tenth Massa- 
chusetts. 


FAIR OAKS. 107 


The Tenth Massachusetts. The Line reformed. What Gen. Keyes said. 


He throws it into the broken gap. It requires 
nerve and muscle to march in where all are flee- 
ing, — to be a breakwater where the flood sweeps 
all before it. But the regiment goes in as cheer- 
fully as to a dress-parade. They deliver their 
volleys with deliberate aim. They hold their 
ground. 

Three hundred yards in the rear, Heintzelman, 
Keyes, Casey, Naglee, and other officers are rally- 
ing the men. Fugitives are stopped, regiments 
which have been so stubbornly contesting the 
ground are induced to try it once more. 

“ Had that regiment been two minutes later,” 
says General Keyes, “ they would have been too 
late to occupy that fine position, and it would have 
been impossible to have formed the next and last 
line of battle, which stemmed the tide of defeat 
and turned it toward a victory.” * 

Thus far the Rebels have had.it all their own 
way. Casey has been driven a mile. His camp 
is in the hands of Longstreet. He has lost many. 
guns. Longstreet has made so good a beginning 
that, although Huger has not made his appear- 
ance from the South, the prospect is good for 
overwhelming the Union force on the southern 
bank. - 

But other actors arrive upon the ground,—the 
men who tossed their knapsacks into the woods 


* Keyes’s Report. 


108 FAIR OAKS. 


The new Line. Lieutenant Rice calls upon the Sick Men. 


at Williamsburg,— who became a wall. of ada- 
mant on that memorable field. Berry and Jame- 
son march up the Williamsburg road and move 
out upon the left of the line forming behind the 
Tenth Massachusetts. Berry pushes down into 
the border of the swamp; Jameson sends one 
regiment to Peck and one to Birney, and moves 
straight on towards the abattis of fallen trees in 
front of Couch’s line along the Williamsburg road 
with his two remaining regiments. His men lie 
down behind the fallen trees and pour their vol- 
leys into the advancing foe, moving on in stately 
grandeur. Jameson, unmindful of the storm 
around him, rides up and down the line, exposed 
to the fire of the enemy, not a hundred yards 
distant. Sheltered by the abattis, his two regi- 
ments areimmovable. Like a hillock in the path 
of an avalanche, they turn the overwhelming force 
aside. It flows round them, right and left, but 
does not advance along the road. 

Berry, far down in the woods towards White 
Oak Swamp, is pouring a terrible fire upon the 
masses, who still press toward Seven Pines. 
He holds them in check, repulsing all the as- 
saults. There, in the thickest of the fight, is that 
young officer who made his last will and testa- 
ment at Yorktown,— the “hero of the day” at 
Williamsburg,— animating the troops by his fear- 
less daring, and there he gives his life to his 
country, shot through the brain. 


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‘* All of you who can hold up your heads, follow me!” — Pagé 109. 


FAIR OAKS. 109 


Berry and Jameson arrive. How they fight. Willie Parker. 


In the rear of Seven Pines is the hospital, full 
of weak and sickly men, prostrated by fevers. 
They hear the tide of battle rolling nearer hour 
by hour. A soldier from the front says that the 
line is giving way and the Rebels are sweeping 
all before them. The words fall on the ears of 
Lieutenant Rice, of the Eleventh Maine. He 
springs to his feet, and grasps a gun. ‘“ All 
of you who can hold up your heads, follow 
me!” he shouts.* Men who have not been 
able to stand upon their feet spring up at the 
word. They are pale, sallow, emaciated, with 
sunken eyes and hollow cheeks. They form in 
line, twenty of them, seize their muskets. The 
fever is consuming them, but there is a warmer - 
flame within their breasts, — the unquenchable 
desire to save their comrades from defeat and 
their country from destruction. Lieutenant Rice 
leads the weak and tottering party to the front. 
He moves on close to the enemy. He is one of 
the best marksmen of his regiment, and soldier 
after soldier falls from the ranks of the enemy by 
his unerring aim. He fires seven times, and then 
goes down before the bullets of the foe. 

There is Willie Parker of the Eleventh Maine, 
a mere boy, who beholds the Rebel colors a 
vancing from the woods, borne by a stalwart sol- 
dier. . 


2. 
ot 
a8 
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¢ * Adjutant-General’s rence. 1862. 


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= om ,  —— 


110 FAIR OAKS. 
“Good Fighting.” 


‘That flag must come down!” he says, as he 


raises his gun. There is a flash, a screaming in 
the air, as the swiftly-whirling bullet passes on. 
The color-bearer reels, staggers, and falls. 

There is Sergeant Katon, the standard-bearer 
of the Eleventh, holding up, as high as he can 
reach, the broken flag-staff, while kneeling beside 
the dead body of Corporal Maddocks, who has 
fallen while guarding the torn and tattered but 
precious standard,—all this while the tempest 
surges around them, over them, through them; 
the very blast of death! 

An officer with one hundred men, who has been 
out on picket, comes up the road. 

‘‘ Where is my regiment ?”’ he asks of the grim 
and veteran Heintzelman. 

‘¢T cannot tell you, sir.” 

‘¢ But I would like to join it.” 

‘‘ Very well, but if it is fighting you want, just 
go in, Colonel, for there is good fighting all along 
the line.” 

The battle rages furiously. Five o’clock — six 
o’clock —half past six — Berry holds them by the 
swamp, Jameson holds them with his three hun- 
dred men on the Williamsburg road; but between 
Seven Pines and Fair Oaks the tide is drifting on. 

Jameson resolves to advance. The Rebels in 
front of him fall back along the road to Rich- 
mond. Thus, while Whiting is pushing east 


FAIR OAKS. 111 


Jameson on the Way to Richmond. The Prospect. 


over the Nine-Mile Road, Jameson is marching 
west towards the Rebel capital, driving all before 
him. 

‘¢ Fall back” is the imperative order which he 
receives. He would a great deal rather go on. 

‘“‘What would you have done, if you had not 
been ordered back ?”’ a friend asked. 

‘*¢ | would have been in Richmond or in Heaven 
before night,” was the reply.* 

But he obeys orders. Yet he cannot go back 
the way he advanced; the enemy is between him 
and Seven Pines. He faces south, picks his way 
‘through White Oak Swamp, comes round to 
Seven Pines, and again confronts the enemy. 

The day is closing. Darkness is coming on. 
The Yankees are not yet swept into the Chicka- 
hominy. Longstreet has had success, but it is 
not a great victory. The Union line has been 
pushed back a mile and a half. It has been 
broken, —almost disorganized. Berry’s brigade 
is as firm and solid as ever. Jameson’s has been 
divided and sent to different parts of the field. 
Casey’s division has crumbled. Couch’s has 
been broken. A great crowd of stragglers is 
moving towards Bottom’s Bridge. Couch with 
two regiments and a battery have been pushed. 
north towards Grape Vine Bridge. Such is 
the position at seven o’clock, as Whiting, fresh 


* Adjutant-General’s Report. 


Tie ' FAIR OAKS. 


Sedgwick’s Division. Whiting’s Attack. 


and vigorous, brings his brigade down the rail- 
road to finish the work of this day. 

But now there is another actor,— General 
Sumner, who has crossed the Chickahominy at 
Grape-Vine Bridge, and is pushing on with 
Sedgwick’s gallant division. 

General Sumner ordered his corps to be un- 
der arms at one o’clock. As the firing grew 
loud, he moved his troops to the Chickahominy 
and waited for orders to cross. He commenced 
crossing at three o’clock, but the swamp was 
flooded, and it was only by great exertion and 
perseverance that he was able to get Kirby’s 
battery to the south bank. 

Gorman’s brigade led the column, composed of 
the First Minnesota, Fifteenth Massachusetts, Sec- 
ond New York Volunteers, and Thirty-Fourth 
New York,— Gorman joined General Couch. 
Kirby, with his six Napoleon guns, followed, and 
Dana’s brigade closed the column, composed of the 
Nineteenth and Twentieth Massachusetts, Sev- 
enth Michigan, and Forty-Second New York. 
General Sumner rapidly formed his line, facing 
south. Whiting, up to this time, had been press- 
ing straight on towards the Seven Pines. He 
turned to crush this new force which had ap- 
peared unexpectedly on his flank. 

It is a cloudy night and darkness is stealing on, 
as the Rebels change their front and move towards 


FAIR OAKS. 113 


Captain Kirby calls for Canister. Sedgwick’s Charge. 


the north to sweep all before them. They ad- 
vance across the field and through the woods, de- 
livering a rapid fire. Suddenly there bursts a 
sheet of flame from Sumner’s ranks. 

The Rebels fall back, rally their broken lines, 
advance again, nearer and with desperation. 
‘Canister! Canister! Give them canister!” is 
Kirby’s order as he moves from gun to gun. The 
battle-cloud grows thick beneath the heavy vapors 
rising from the swamp. Quick, incessant flashes 
momentarily light up the deepening darkness. 
It is not possible for men to face so terrible a 
storm. Vain are all the efforts of the Rebel 
officers to rally their bleeding ranks. 

Sumner has stood his ground. The time has 
come to advance. The Thirty-Fourth and Forty- 
Second New York, Fifteenth and Twentieth Mas- 
sachusetts, and Seventh Michigan move forward. 

There are two fences in front of them, and _ be- 
yond the farthest one is the Rebel line waiting 
their advance. ‘The soldiers know that it will be 
the last march of many, but with a cheer heard 
above the roar of battle, they rush into the dark- 
ness, dash the fences under foot, and spring upon 
the enemy’s lines. It is the work of a minute. 
One short struggle, a volley, a holding of the 
breath, muttered curses, shouts, groans, a clash- 
ing of bayonets, the trampling of ten thousand 
feet, and the field is clear of the enemy! 

H 


114 FAIR OAKS. 


Jeff Davis disappointed. 


General Johnston has failed in what he intend- 
ed to accomplish. He is borne from the field at 
this hour, wounded by a shell from Kirby’s 
battery. 

‘“‘As I rode down through the field,’ says a 
Rebel officer, “‘ I met Franks, one of Longstreet’s 
aids, looking as blue as indigo. What is the 
matter, Franks? Not satisfied with the day’s 
work?” I inquired. 

“Satisfied be hanged! I saw old Jeff, Mallo- 
ry, Longstreet, and Whiting, and all of them, 
looking as mad as thunder. Just to think that 
Huger’s slowness has spoiled everything! There 
he has been on our right all day and has n’t fired 
a shot, although he had positive orders to open 
the fight at eight o’clock in the morning.”’* 

There are indescribable scenes of horror after 
a great battle,—the removal of the wounded, 
bleeding, dying, giving utterances to groans ex- 
torted by the intense pain, —the work at the hos- 
pitals, where the disabled, one by one, are laid 
before the surgeons. Yet, amid their terrible suf- 
ferings, the men are often cheerful, and hopeful 
for this life and the life which is to come. 

A chaplain says: ‘ Amongst the badly wound- 
ed was Joseph Bynon of Alleghany City, Penn- 
sylvania, a young man of the most generous na- 
ture, universally popular in his regiment, and 


* Battle-Fields of the South. 


FAIR OAKS. 115 


HOw a Soldier died. 


the staff of a widowed mother. He was lying on 
a blanket near the house, wounded in the bow- 
els. I asked him about his sufferings. He re- 
plied, that he did not suffer much, that he was 
faint from the loss of blood as he supposed. I 
saw from his pulse that he had but a few mo- 
ments to live, and said to him, 

‘“¢« Joseph, are you willing and ready to die? I 
am afraid you cannot live.’ 

**¢ Well, doctor,’ he whispered, ‘I should like 
to live; I love my mother; this will be a great 
sorrow to her. And I should like to do some- 
thing for my little nephew and niece. But there 
is another life, and I know I shall find mother 
there. I feel I have been a great sinner; in 
many things I have done wrong; but ever since 
my conversion I experienced in Camp Johnson, 
I have tried to follow my Saviour, and now I die 
trusting. My mind wanders; I find it difficult 
to think and speak. In praying to God, I may 
not say the things that are right; do, doctor, lift 
up my hands and clasp them together, and pray 
for me!’ 

‘J lifted up the hands crimsoned with his own 
blood, and pressing them in mine, commended 
him to the Merciful One, who for us all had suf- 
fered the bitterness of death. He repeated word 
for word, prayed for his mother, and then said, 
‘*QO Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of 


116 FAIR OAKS. 


Sunday, June 1. The Rebel Orderly. The Union Line. 


the world, take away my sin; into Thine hand I 
commend my spirit!’ 

“The storm of battle raged again. The ene- 
my’s shells burst around the hospital, and the 
wounded were removed. He was lifted into an 
ambulance, but died before it reached Savage 
Station. Thus giving his life to his country, he 
passed on into the service of his God.” * 

At daybreak on Sunday morning, an orderly 
belonging to the Rebel army rode out of the 
woods into the Union lines. 

‘¢ Where is General Anderson,” he asked. 

‘‘Here he is. What do you want of him,” 
said a colonel. 

‘“‘T have a despatch for him from General 
Pryor.” 

‘“‘] will take it. Soldiers, guard this man. You 
are my prisoner.” © 

The orderly was much astonished to find him- 
self a prisoner. The despatch gave information 
of the disposition of the Rebel forces for the bat- 
tle soon to recommence. 

During the night the balance of Sumner’s corps 
crossed the Chickahominy, and at daybreak the 
troops, thus strengthened, were able to renew 
the battle. Sedgwick remainéd where he fought 
on Saturday. MRichardson’s division was next 
on his right. He formed in two lines, — with 


* Chaplain Marks. 


FAIR OAKS. 117 


The Fight renewed. General Howard. 


French’s brigade in front on the railroad, and 
Howard and Meagher in the second line in his 
rear. Kearney, Couch, and Hooker, with the 
remnants of Casey’s division, were in the vicinity 
of Seven Pines. 

It would require many pages to give in detail 
the fight of Sunday morning. It must be given 
as a picture. 

It began at five o’clock. At that hour, the 
Rebels are discovered south of the railroad in 
the woods in front of Richardson. Pettit opens 
with shells, and the stillness of the Sabbath is 
broken by deep reverberations rolling along the 
Chickahominy. There is a gap between Rich- 
ardson and Kearney. Richardson moves toward 
Seven Pines to close it. From the woods where 
Pettit drops his shells, there is a volley — anoth- 
er—another—and the men drop from Richard- 
son’s ranks. The Rebels advance and attack 
French’s brigade at short range. For an hour the 
men stand in their places, and deliver their fire 
upon the columns which are pushed against them. 
Reinforcements come up from Longstreet’s re- 
serves. Howard is brought up from the second 
line to meet them. His horse is shot. He is 
twice wounded in the right arm, and is forced to 
leave the field. His arm is shattered, and the 
surgeon says it must come off. He meets Kear- 
ney, who lost his left arm years ago. 


118 FAIR OAKS. 


The triumphant March. Richmond might have been taken. 


‘‘ We will buy our gloves together, Kearney,” 
is the salutation of this Christian soldier and 
patriot. 

But the onset of his brigade is magnificent. 
The Rebel line is shattered by the resistless 
charge. 

Hooker comes up the railroad. He falls like a 
thunderbolt upon the enemy in front, breaking, 
dividing, shattering them. They flee in confu- 
sion. Sickles is advancing along the Williams- 
burg road, Berry and Jameson are moving over 
the ground of Saturday between the Seven Pines 
and White-Oak Swamp. Richardson and Sedg- 
wick are also in motion. From Fair Oaks to the 
swamp south of Seven Pines, the Union line ad- 
vances over the bloody field. It is like the swing- 
ing of a wide gate, with its hinges near Fair Oaks, 
and reaching past Seven Pines to the swamp. 

It is a triumphant march. The Rebels have 
failed in what they attempted, and are fleeing 
with broken, demoralized ranks to Richmond. 
Hats, caps, blankets, knapsacks, guns, all are 
thrown aside. The road is filled with the fleeing 
fugitives. Heintzelman and Sumner press on 
within four miles of the city. No -troops oppose 
them. 

“J have no doubt but we might have gone 
right into Richmond,” says General Heintzelman.* 


* Testimony, p. 352. 


FAIR OAKS. 119 


The Loss. The Bridges. Sickness. . 


— ‘J think that if the army had pressed after the 
enemy with great vigor, we should have gone to 
Richmond,” is the opinion of General Keyes.* 

“They (the Federals) missed an opportunity of 
striking a decisive blow. These opportunities 
never returned,’’ writes Prince de Joinville of 
France.} 

General McClellan recalled the troops from 
their pursuit, and established his lines as they 
were on the morning of Saturday. 

The loss on the Union side was 5,787. The 
Rebel loss, as reported in Smith’s, Longstreet’s, 
and Hill’s divisions, was 6,783. Whiting’s di- 
vision also suffered severely, so that the entire 
Rebel loss was about 8,000. 

A month passed by. General McClellan was 
preparing for a siege. There were six bridges 
_ built across the Chickahominy, which required 
labor day and night. The men were obliged to 
work up to their arms in the water. Miles of 
corduroy roads were constructed. The ground 
was sO swampy and marshy that nothing could 
be done by horses. All the timber hauled to con- 
struct the bridges and the batteries was drawn 
by the men. The month of June was rainy. 
There were frequent storms, succeeded by hot 
sunshine. Sickness, in all its frightful forms, 
made its appearance. The men became dis- 


* Testimony, p. 609. t Army of the Potomac, p. 79. 


120 FAIR OAKS. 


General McCall arrives. General Stewart’s Raid. 


couraged. It was expected, day after day, that 
the attack would commence; but the command- 
ing officers issued orders that no batteries should 
open till all were ready. The army, meanwhile, 
began to be depleted of troops. Thousands were 
sent to the hospitals, and other thousands were 
carried out to their last resting-place, on the 
banks of the dark, dismal, sluggish stream, which 
soon became the river of death. 

Reinforcements were called for and received: 
McCall’s division of Pennsylvania Reserves, 
which reached the army on the 12th and 13th of 
June. 

On the night of the 18th, General Stewart, 
with 1,800 Rebel. cavalry, appeared in rear of 
the army. He came first upon two squadrons 
of Regular cavalry, at Hanover Old Church, 
overpowering and capturing them; then pushed 
on to Gorlick’s Landing, on the Pamunkey, 
burning two schooners and fourteen wagons; then 
moved to the railroad at Tunstall’s Station. 

The train first arriving was one going east 
with sick and wounded men. ‘The engineer saw 
the cavalrymen on the track as he rounded a 
curve. They motioned him to stop, but he put 
on more steam, and the train rushed past with 
lightning speed. Hundreds of bullets were aimed 
at him, but he escaped unharmed. 

General Stewart crossed the Chickahominy at 


FAIR OAKS. 121 


The little Girl’s Letter. 


Long Bridge, below Bottom’s Bridge, and came 
upon a Union hospital at Baltimore Cross Roads. 
He placed a guard over the hospital, and treated 
the sick men humanely. But the fright was very 
disastrous to many who found themselves thus 
suddenly in the hands of the enemy. Several died 
during the night. In the pockets of one Union 
soldier, after death, the chaplain found some 
touching and beautiful letters from a little 
brother and sister, telling him how much they 
missed him, how they longed for his return, how 
they counted the days until he might come back, 
but above all telling how proud they were of their 
soldier brother. And they never heard a drum 
beat nor a fife play without thinking of him, and 
feeling glad that they had one noble brother to 
fight for their country.* 


* Chaplain Marks. 


CHAPIPER Vaart. 


SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 


Position of Affairs. The two Armies. 


HE chances for taking Richmond became less 
with each day’s delay. While the Army of 
the Potomac were digging and delving in the 
swamps, and constructing batteries, their ranks 
thinning out by disease, the Rebels, also, were 
hard at work erecting defensive batteries, on firm 
ground, and mounting guns of large calibre. 
Their ranks, instead of growing thin, were filling 
up. ‘Troops were hurried in from all parts of the 
South. The Conscript law which the Confeder- 
ate Congress had passed was in operation, and 
was carried out with remorseless energy. Men 
were compelled to enter the service. 

The Union army in front of Richmond, on the 
20th of June, numbered, fit for duty, 115,102 
men. There were 12,225 sick, and 20,511 ab- 
sent. Leaves of absence and furloughs had been 
granted freely. Officers and men, on a slight 
pretext, found it not very difficult to obtain leave 
of absence, and thus this army, through no fault 
of the government, became greatly depleted. 


SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 128 


Stories of the Deserters. The Rebel Plans. 


At this time General Jackson was in the She- 
nandoah Valley with a large force. By his op- 
erations there, it was found necessary to keep 
General McDowell in position to cover Washing- 
ton. On the 18th of June, General McClellan 
informed the Secretary of War that deserters 
said troops were.on their way from Richmond to 
reinforce Jackson. 

On the same day, a man entered the Union 
lines at Fredericksburg, who pretended to be a 
Frenchman. He stated that he met from ten to 
fifteen thousand men on their way to Gordons- 
ville, going to joi Jackson. 

A despatch was also received from General 
Sigel, who was in the Valley, that a large body 
of Rebels had arrived at Gordonsville. 

All of this went to show that a grand move- 
ment was to be made in the Valley, or upon 
Washington. Such, undoubtedly, the Rebel com- 
manders intended the government at Washing- 
ton should understand their plan to be. But they 
had no intention of marching down the Shenan- 
doah Valley, or of attacking Washington. They 
wished to prevent any more reinforcements from 
joining General McClellan, and also to cover their 
real point of attack. 

General McClellan’s army was still divided by 
the Chickahominy. Sumner, Heintzelman, and 
Keyes were on the south side, and Porter and 


124 SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 


Whiting and Ewell go North. Jackson moving to the East. 


Franklin, with McCall’s newly arrived troops, 
were on the north bank. 

The real object of the Rebels was to crush the 
force on the north bank by a sudden stroke with 
their whole army. By the movement to Gor- 
donsville they allayed suspicion, and transferred 
a division to a position from which it could be 
hurled upon the flank of General McClellan’s 
force on the northern bank. 

All of the railroad cars and engines which 
could be obtained were brought to Richmond 
over the Lynchburg road. Whiting’s and Ew- 
ell’s divisions were placed on board and taken to 
Lynchburg, and thence to Gordonsville where 
they joined Jackson; but not stopping there, were 
brought with Jackson’s army to Frederickshall, 
on the Virginia Central Railroad. From thence 
this large force marched to Ashland, arriving 
there on the 25th.* 

General McClellan was informed by a deserter, 
on the 24th, that Jackson, Whiting, and Ewell 
were at Frederickshall, and that it was intended to 
attack his rear on the 28th.+ The information was 
confirmed on the 25th by negroes who arrived at 
the Union lines, and stated that Jackson was at 
Hanover Court House. 

General McClellan’s lines were more than 


* Campaign from Texas to Maryland. 
t McClellan’s Despatch. Testimony, p. 338. 


SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 125 


General Porter. The Place. 


twenty miles in length. His extreme right was 
north of the city of Richmond, on the road called 
the Brooke Turnpike. No change was made in 
the position of the troops, no breastworks were 
thrown up to protect the rear and flank. The 
only change was the removal of the head-quar- 
ters’ camp to the south side of the Chickahominy. 
General Fitz John Porter was left in command of 
the troops on the north side. 

On the morning of the 26th, the Rebel forces in 
Richmond moved out to join Jackson. General 
Branch’s division marched by the Brooke road. 
General A. P. Hill moved over the Mechanics- 
ville Turnpike; while General Longstreet and 
General D. H. Hill took the Coal-Harbor road 
still farther east, and came to the Chickahominy 
at New Bridge. General Magruder, with one di- 
vision, was left on the south side of the stream.* 
The Rebel force north of the Chickahominy num- 
bered about 60,000; south of it, about 20,000. 
The Union army north numbered about 30,000 ; 
south, 70,000. 


BATTLE OF MECHANICSVILLE. 

If we were to start in a skiff at the bridge on 
the Brooke road, and float down the slow and 
winding Chickahominy three miles, we should 
come first to Meadow Bridge, on the road leading 


* Pollard’s Southern History, p. 329. 


126 SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 


New Bridge. The Advance of the Rebels. 


from Richmond to Shady-Grove Church. Two 
miles farther would bring us to the Mechanics- 
ville Turnpike. The little village of Mechanics- 
ville is two miles towards the north. ‘Two miles 
below the Mechanicsville Bridge is the Upper 
Trestle Bridge, built by General McClellan. Two 
miles farther down is New Bridge, on the road 
leading from Richmond to Coal Harbor. There 
is a high hill on the south side of the stream, 
on the plantation of Dr. Lewis, where the Reb- 
els had a battery which commanded the bridge 
and prevented General McClellan from using it. 
There was also a battery on the north side, which 
General McClellan had planted to prevent the 
Rebels from crossing at that point, and cutting 
off the force which he had advanced to Me- 
chanicsville. Still farther down the stream were 
other bridges which had been erected by General 
McClellan’s engineers. 

At noon the enemy was seen advancing upon 
Meadow Bridge. The long column descended 
the bank, forded the stream above the bridge, and 
disappeared in the woods. 

The Bucktails, who had driven Stewart at 
Dranesville, were sent out to support the pickets, 
but were surprised to see a body of cavalry dash- 
ing into the road behind them. They faced 
about, drove the cavalry, fell back to Mechan- 
icsville, followed by the pickets. 


SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 127 


McCall’s Position. 


General McCall, who commanded there, had 
thrown up a line of breastworks on the east side 
of the creek. He formed his troops on the slope, 
with his batteries on the crest of the hill. Gen- 
eral Reynolds’s brigade had the right, and Gen- 
eral Seymour’s the left. General Meade’s brigade 


BaTTLeE oF MECHANICSVILLE. 


Union TROOPS. ReBEL Troops. 
1 Seymour’s brigade. A Hill’s Division. 
2 Reynolds’s ‘ B Branch’s Brigade, 


8 Griffin’s &¢ 
» Martindale’s *“ 
C Mechanicsville. D Ellison’s Mills. 


128 SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 


General Hill’s Line. The murderous Fire. 


was brought up as a reserve. General Porter 
sent forward Griffin’s and Martindale’s brigades, 
which took position on the right of Reynolds. 
Having thus formed his line, he waited the ad- 
vance of the enemy. 

The force which came in sight first was A. P. 
Hill’s division, followed by General Branch’s. 

A. short distance from the Chickahominy, on 
the creek, was Ellison’s Mills. The road from 
Mechanicsville to New Bridge crossed the creek 
.at that point. Another road leading from Me- 
chanicsville to Coal Harbor crossed it farther 
up. ‘Timber had been felled, rifle-pits dug, and 
the artillery planted so as to rake the only 
two feasible approaches. 

General Hill formed his line for the attack on 
Ellison’s Mills, while General Branch advanced 
along the upper road against Reynolds. 

The battle began at three o’clock, and raged 
with fury till nine o’clock. There were no 
movements in the Union lines. The men stood 
in their places and poured an uninterrupted fire 
upon the enemy, who were vainly endeavoring to 
cross the ravine and scale the heights. The ar- 
tillery, fifty pieces, rained solid shot, shells, grape, 
canister, shrapnel, all sorts of missiles, producing 
great slaughter. 

General D. H. Hill arrived with his division, 
and joined in the attack upon Seymour at the 


SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 129 


Jackson at Coal Harbor. Preparations to retreat. 


Mills, but was received with a ‘“ murderous 
fire.’’ * 

The united efforts of the two Hills and Gener- 
al Branch were not sufficient to dislodge the two 
brigades which held the position. Griffin, Mar- 
tindale, and Meade were ready to lend assistance, 
but were not engaged. Griffin only fired a few 
shots. The Union loss was eighty killed and 
about two hundred wounded. The Rebel loss is 
supposed to have been nearly three thousand. 
The assaults upon the rifle-pits were made with 
great desperation, but the men could not get 
through the impassable abatis, and were cut 
down by the constant and steady fire of musket- 
ry and canister at short range. 

But the advance of General Jackson by Coal 
Harbor made it necessary to withdraw the troops 
from this strong position and- concentrate the en- 
tire force on the north bank, to cover the bridges 
which had been constructed between the two 
wings of the army. During the night General 
McCall’s division was withdrawn, contrary to the 
remonstrances of the brave men who had held the 
ground against five times their force; but they 
did not know that Jackson was on their rear with 
40,000 men. 

General McClellan ordered the heavy guns and 
all the baggage to be sent across the Chickahom- 


* Confederate Narrative, Rebellion Record, Vol. V. p. 250. 
6 * I 


130 SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 


The Battle-Field. General Porter’s Position. 


iny. He had already meditated a retreat to the 
James River. 

‘‘Run the cars to the last moment, and load 
them with provisions and ammunition. Load 
every wagon you have with subsistence, and send 
them to Savage Station,” was the order sent to 
Colonel Ingalls, the Chief Quarter-Master at 
White-House. 


THE BATTLE OF GAINES’S MILLS. 


The battle which was fought on the 27th of 
June is known in the South as the battle of Coal 
Harbor; in the North, as the battle of Gaines’s 
Mills. General Fitz John Porter commanded the 
Union troops, and General Lee the Rebel army. 

Starting from the Chickahominy and travelling 
up the little creek which supplies Dr. Gaines’s 
Mill with water, we come to the battle-field, which 
lies on our right hand, east of the creek. The 
ravine is narrow and the banks on both sides are 
steep. General Porter has cut down the trees 
which stood on the hillside, and has thrown up 
rifle-pits and intrenchments. He is to hold the 
enemy in check, while General McClellan makes 
preparations for a retreat to James River. He 
has thirty thousand men against seventy thou- 
sand. Commencing on the creek near the Chick- 
ahominy, we see on our right hand General Mor- 
rell’s division, with Butterfield’s, Martindale’s, 


SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 131 


General Griffin’s Brigade. 


and Griffin’s brigades. Upon the other side is 
Longstreet, A. P. Hill, and Whiting. 

General Griffin’s brigade is south of the road 
which comes down from Coal Harbor. Across 
the road is General Sykes’s division of regulars, 
composed of Warren’s, Chapman’s, and Buchan- 


BATTLE oF GaAINES’s MILLs. 


Union Troops. REBEL TROOPS. 
1 Butterfield’s Brigade. A Longstreet’s Division. 
2 Martindale‘s J: B A. P. Hill’s oo 
3 Griffin’s we C Whiting’s a 
4 Sykes’s Division. D Ewell’s “ 
5 McCall’s ‘“ E D. H. Hill’s ce 
6 Slocum’s ‘* F Jackson’s 6 


G New Coal-Harbor, Lee’s Head- 
Quarters. 


132 SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 


The Day. The Rebel Officers. Magruder’s Instructions. 


an’s brigades, confronted by Ewell’s, D. H. Hill’s, 
and Jackson’s divisions. General Porter’s sec- 
ond line at the beginning of the battle is com- 
posed of McCall’s division, stationed near the 
centre, in rear of Griffin. He has some cavalry 
on the road leading to Alexander’s Bridge. 

Late in the day Slocum’s division, of Sumner’s 
corps, crosses Sumner’s Bridge and takes posi- 
tion in rear of Sykes’s. 

It is a hot, sultry day. General Lee is at Ho- 
gan’s plantation, near New Coal-Harbor, sitting 
beneath the portico of the farm-house, absorbed 
in thought. He is neatly dressed in a gray 
uniform, buttoned to the throat. Longstreet is 
sitting in an old chair at the foot of the steps be- 
neath the trees, eating a lunch, with his feet 
against a tree, his uniform faded and torn, 
buttons missing, and his boots old and dusty. 
Gregg, Wilcox, Pryor, Featherstone, and other 
generals are there waiting for Jackson, who has 
been marching hard all the morning to get into 
position. A courier comes down the Coal-Har- 
bor road, delivers a message to Lee, who mounts 
his horse and rides away to New Coal-Harbor.* 

It is past two o’clock in the afternoon before 
Lee is ready to begin the attack. There has been 
a cannonade all along the line north and south of 
the Chickahominy. Magruder, on the south side, 


* Battle-Fields of the South. 


SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 183 


Lee’s Intention. . The Contest. 


has instructions to make a grand demonstration, 
as if he was going to attack McClellan. It is 
his intention to keep him from sending troops 
to Porter’s aid. 

Lee intends to make a grand onset and sweep 
Porter into the Chickahominy. Under cover of a 
tremendous fire from the artillery, A. P. Hill be- 
gins the attack upon Griffin and Martindale, but 
under the superior and effective fire of Captain 
Griffin’s United States battery, Weeden’s Rhode 
Island, and Allen’s and Martin’s Massachusetts 
batteries, the Rebel batteries are “ overpowered 
and driven from the field.””* The Rebel infan- 
try advances through the belt of timber, and 
descends the ravine. From the rifle-pits there 
are sudden flashes and quick spirts of flame, and 
the battle-cloud becomes thick and heavy. 

_It would require many pages to make a full 
record of the terrible combat. How Longstreet 
urged his men into the woods, — how the battle 
rolled through the forest and surged back again, — 
how brigade after brigade marched against Mar- 
tindale, Griffin, and Butterfield, only to fall back 
with broken and shattered ranks,—how the 
ground became thick with the dead and wound- 
ed, — how men fired into each other’s faces and 
fell almost into each other’s arms, mingling their 
life-blood in one crimson stream, — how Jackson 


* Campaign from Texas to Maryland, p. 46. 


134 SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 


Slocum’s Division. French and Meagher sent over. Porter’s Men give way. 


pressed on over the plain, urging his men nearer 
and nearer,—how the Pennsylvania Reserves 
went up to aid the Regulars,—how couriers 
dashed through the woods, over the bridges to 
General McClellan, who was on the southern 
bank, asking for reinforcements, — how Slocum’s 
division went over, reached the field, held in 
check the dark masses forming upon the flank of 
the Regulars and Reserves, and held the ground. 
The hours hung heavily. Three o’clock, — four 
o’clock, — five o’clock,— and no break in the 
line. Thirty-five thousand against seventy! But 
the pressure is terrible. French’s and Meagher’s 
brigades are ordered over. But moments are 
precious. Six o’clock; the onset is greater than 
ever. Hveryregiment, every man, is brought to the 
front, on both sides. The artillery still thunders, 
but the infantry are out of ammunition. Long- 
street has been hurled back as often as he has ad- 
vanced, and so has A. P. Hill and D. H. Hill, but 
Jackson is working toward the Chickahominy on 
the left. Sykes’s men, who have been facing 
north, are obliged to face east to meet the troops 
moving in a steady stream down the road leading 
to Old Coal-Harbor. Men begin to leave the 
ranks and move toward the rear. There is a 
desperate rush from Jackson’s brigades upon the 
guns. ‘The Union line gives way. 

If there was a fresh division or a brigade even 


SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. loo 


The Battle lost. The Victorious Charge. 


at hand, the tide might be stopped. ‘There are 
sixty thousand men upon the southern bank of 
the river, but General McClellan is afraid that 
Magruder with his division will make an attack. 

Whiting’s division, which has been held in 
reserve by Lee, is ordered up. All of his des- 
perate charges and onsets have failed. If Whit- 
ing fails, the battle is lost. 

The Regulars and the Pennsylvania Reserves 
are worn out. Their ammunition is nearly gone. 
Porter orders up his last man. They can have 
no more support. At this moment, after they 
have held at bay for four hours the great host, 
they are called upon to withstand the last grand 
charge of Jackson. 

Whiting advances, he is received with grape 
and canister. His line halts, wavers, almost 
breaks ; but Jackson, Whiting, Hood, and Law 
urge the men to push on. They leap across the 
ravine, halt a moment, sheltered by the bank 
above them from the fire of the Union batteries, 
and then leap the breastwork and seize the guns. 
There is a short struggle, a falling back, a re- 
treat, and the battle of Gaines’s Mills is lost to 
General McClellan. | 

Meagher and French have reached the field, 
but they are too late to save the day. Twenty 
guns have fallen into Lee’s hands, and several 
hundred prisoners. The cavalry in the rear 


136 SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 


Porter crosses the Chickahominy. A Rebel Account. 


draw their sabres, dash upon the exultant foe, 
but it is an ineffectual charge. The retreating 
troops fall in behind French and Meagher, form a 
new line nearer the Chickahominy, as the dark- 
ness comeson. ‘They have been driven from their 
first position, but Lee has not power enough 
to drive them into the Chickahominy. He de- 
cides to wait till morning before renewing the 
attack. 

The morning dawns, and Porter is beyond his 
reach across the river, with all his siege guns, 
ammunition, and supplies. 

How near Lee came to losing the battle may 
be seen by the following extract from the narra- 
tion of a Rebel correspondent of the Richmond 
Whig : — 

‘Tt was absolutely necessary that we should 
carry their line, and, to do this, regiment after 
regiment, and brigade after brigade was succes- 
sively led forward; still our repeated charges, 
gallant and dashing though they were, failed to 
accomplish the end, and our troops, still fighting, 
fell steadily back. Thus for more than two 
mortal hours the momentous issue stood trem- 
bling in the balance. The sun was getting far 
in the west, darkness would soon be upon us, 
and the point must be carried. At this juncture 
—it was now five o’clock—the division of the 
gallant Whiting hove in sight. On reaching the 


SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. E87 


Destruction of Property. 


field their troops rapidly deployed in line..... 
The charge was made under the most galling 
fire I ever witnessed ; shot, shell, grape, canister, 
and ball swept through our lines like a storm 
of leaden hail, and our noble boys fell thick and 
fast; and yet still, with the irresistible determina- 
tion of men who fight for all that men hold dear, 
our gallant boys rushed on. 

‘“‘ Suddenly a halt was made, —there was a deep 
pause, and the line wavered from right to left. 
We now saw the character of the enemy’s works. 
A ravine deep and wide yawned before us, while 
from the other side of the crest of the almost 
perpendicular bank, a breastwork of logs was 
erected, from behind which the dastard invaders 
were pouring murderous volleys upon our troops. 
The pause made by our troops was but a brief 
breathing space. The voice of Law was heard, 
‘Forward, boys! charge them!’ and with a 
wild, mad shout our impetuous soldiery dashed 
forward.” * 


THE MOVEMENT TO JAMES RIVER 


On the morning of the 28th, General Keyes 
and General Porter, followed by long trains of 
wagons and herds of cattle, moved towards the 
south, through the dark forests of White-oak 
Swamp. At White-House landing, sloops, schoon- 


* Richmond Whig, June 29, 1862. 


138 SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 


The Ammunition Train. The Explosion. The Wounded. 


ers, barges, and steamers were departing for York- 
town. At Savage Station the torch was applied 
to all the stores which could not be removed. 
Barrels of pork, beef, sugar, bags of coffee, boxes 
of bread, were destroyed. A railroad train load- 
ed with ammunition was standing on the track. 
The engine was ready for use. Far down the 
track, there was a pillar of cloud rising from 
the burnt bridge across the Chickahominy. The 
cars were set on fire. The engineer stepped 
upon the engine for the last time, and pulled 
the throttle. The wheels began to turn. He 
opened the valve to its full width, and jumped 
upon the ground. The’engine sprang down the 
descending grade, propelled by the pent-up power. 
It is two miles from the station to the bridge, and 
over this distance it rushed like an unchained 
tiger. Sparkling, crackling, roaring with increas- 
ing velocity, dashing along the fields, over the 
meadows, through the forests, a trail of fire, a 
streaming banner of flame and smoke, a linked 
thunderbolt, rumbling, growling, exploding, leap- 
ing from the abutment full forty feet, bursting 
into a million fragments, jarring the earth with 
the mighty concussion, and disappearing beneath 
the waters, a wreck, a ruin forever ! 

General McClellan was obliged to leave some 
of his sick and wounded. Many soldiers shed 
tears as they bade a last farewell to their com- 
rades. 


“A linked thunderbolt, rumbling, growling 
abutment full forty feet.” — Page 138, 


» exploding, leaping from the 


SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 139 


a : a They sing a Hymn. 

**T would rather die than fall into the hands 
of the Rebels,” said one. 

“OQ my God! is this the reward I deserve for 
all the sacrifices I have made, the battles I have 
fought, and the agony I have endured from my 
wounds ?”’* was the despairing cry of another. 

‘Do not be ashamed of your cause. Defend 
it boldly, and put your trust in God’; were the 
-words of one noble chaplain, Rev. Mr. Marks, 
who would not leave them, but who remained to 
be a prisoner for their sakes. They prayed to- 
gether and sang a hymn. 


«“ Jesus, my God, I know his name, 
His name is all my trust ; 
He will not put my soul to shame, 
Nor let it.e’er be lost.” 


They were comforted, and resolved to meet 
their fate like men. 

The Rebels made no attack on Saturday. They 
were compelled to repair the bridges which had 
been destroyed, before they could cross the Chicka- 
hominy. General Sumner commanded the rear- 
guard. He retreated slowly on Saturday to Peach 
Orchard, and halted to destroy the supplies. 

On Sunday morning a portion of Lee’s army 
advanced to attack Sumner, who was at Peach 
Orchard and Allen’s Farm; but Hazard’s and 


* Peninsular Campaign. 


140 SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 


Advance of the Enemy. The Trains. 


Pettit’s batteries, with Sedgwick’s division, quick- 
ly repulsed them. 


BATTLE OF SAVAGE STATION. 


Lee’s divisions, one after another, filed across 
the hastily repaired bridges. General Franklin 
was north of the railroad. He saw them, and 
sent word to General Sumner, who fell back with 
Franklin to Savage Station. General Franklin 
was on the right, Sumner in the centre, and 
Heintzelman nearer Richmond on the left. There 
was a misunderstanding of orders; and General 
Heintzelman moved across White-oak Swamp, 
which exposed Sumner’s left flank to the enemy. 

Through the long Sabbath hours, these troops 
stood upon the wide plain facing northwest, seem- 
ingly motionless almost as statues, while the long 
wagon trains moved into the woods towards the 
south. They were the rear-guard, and on them 
depended the salvation of the army. 

Following the wagons were thousands of sick 
and wounded, working their way towards the 
swamp, urged on by hope of escaping the hands 
of the Rebels. It was heart-rending to hear the 
words of those who were too badly wounded to 
be moved, or who could not be taken away. 

The sun went down. Evening was coming on, 
yet the twenty thousand men remained upon that 
field awaiting the attack,— three lines of reso- 


SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 141 


The Attack. Sumner’s Line. 


lute, determined men. Brooks’s, Hancock’s, and 
Burns’s brigades were in front; with Osborn’s, 
Bramhall’s, Hazard’s, and Pettit’s batteries, — 
twenty-four guns. 

It was past five o’clock before the enemy 
opened the battle. An hour passed of constant 
artillery firing. Then the Rebels advanced across 
the wide and level plain with yellings and howl- 
ings. 

There was a stream of fire from Sumner’s 
line, — a steady outpouring of deadly volleys. It 
was twenty thousand against forty thousand. 
There were answering volleys from the Rebel 
lines. Sumner’s batteries left off firing shell and 
threw canister, and the lines, which had advanced 
so triumphantly, were sent in confusion across 
the field. Again they advanced, and were again 
repulsed. Longstreet and Jackson, once more 
under cover of the gathering darkness, urged on 
their reluctant troops. Sumner brought up his 
reserve brigades. It was a short, sharp struggle, 
—a wild night-tempest,—the roaring of fifty 
cannon, and thirty thousand muskets. The 
evening was unusually calm. Not a breath of air 
stirred the leaves of the trees. The stars shone 
brightly. Strange the scene, — so weird and ter- 
rible upon that plain! A thousand men dropped 
from the Union ranks, and thrice that number 
from the ranks of the Rebels. 


142 SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 


The Fifth Vermont. Passing the Swamp. Glendale. 


‘‘ Who are you?”’ asked an officer of the Fifth 
Vermont, dimly seeing a regiment in the dark- 
ness. 

There was a momentary silence, and then the 
question, “ Who are you?” 

“The Fifth Vermont.” 

‘¢ Let them have it, boys,’’ were the words of 
command shouted by the Rebel officer. The 
Vermonters heard it. There was no flinching. 
Instantly their rifles came to their cheeks. 

There were two broad flashes of light, two 
rows of dead and wounded. But the Ver- 
monters held their ground; and the Rebels, 
shattered, repulsed, and utterly defeated, dis- 
appeared in the gloom of night. It was hard for 
the brave men to go away from their fallen com- 
rades and leave them upon the field which they 
had defended with their life’s blood, but it was 
impossible to remove them; and the long lines 
closed in upon the wagons, marched down the 
forest road, and at daylight were south of White- 
oak Swamp. 


BATTLE OF GLENDALE. 


‘“‘ Glendale”’ is the euphonious name given by 
Mr. Nelson to his farm, which is located two 
miles south of White-oak Swamp. It is a place 
where several roads meet; from the north, the 
Swamp road; from the east, the Long-Bridge 


SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. Tae 


Position of the Troops. Lee’s Intention. 


road; from the south, the road leading to Mal- 
vern Hill; from the southwest, the Newmarket 
road ; from the northwest, the Charles City road, 
leading to Richmond. There are farm-houses, 
groves, ravines, wheat-fields waving with grain. 
Upon the Malvern road, there is achurch. West 
of the church, a half-mile, is the mansion of Mr. 
Frazier, where the Rebel lines were formed on 
the 30th of June. 

At sunrise on that morning, all the divisions 
of the Union army were south of the swamp. 
Richardson and Smith, with Naglee’s brigade, of 
Casey’s division, were guarding the passage at the 
swamp. Slocum was on the Charles City road, 
northwest of the church. Kearney was between 
that road and the Newmarket road. McCall was 
on the Newmarket road, with Hooker and Sedg- 
wick behind him, nearer the church. 

Porter and Keyes were at Malvern with the 
trains, two miles distant. 

Lee divided his army. Jackson, D. H. Hill, 
and Ewell followed McClellan down the Swamp 
road; while A. P. Hill, Longstreet, Huger, Ma- 
gruder, and Holmes made all haste down the 
Charles City road from Richmond, to strike Mc- 
Clellan on the flank and divide his army. The 
President of the Confederacy went out with A. 
P. Hill to see the Union army cut to pieces. 

Jackson reached the bridge across the sluggish 


ie 


144 SEVEN DAYS OF -FIGHTING. 


A. P. Hill’s Attack upon McCall. McCall’s Position. 


stream in the swamp, but it was torn up; and 
on the southern bank stood Smith and Richard- 
son. Hazard’s, Ayres’s, and Pettit’s batteries were 
in position. Jackson brought up all his guns. 
There was a fierce artillery fight, lasting through 
the day. Jackson succeeded in getting a small 
infantry force across towards evening, but it was 
not strong enough to make an attack, and nothing 
came of all his efforts to harass the rear. 

During the afternoon, the pickets on the 
Charles City road discovered A. P. Hill’s troops 
filing off from the road, west of Frazier’s farm, 
toward the south. They went across the fields, 
and through the woods to the Newmarket road. 
While the main body was thus taking position, 
a small body of infantry and a battery opened fire 
upon Slocum ; but he had cut down the forest in 
his front, forming an impassable barrier, so that 
he was secure from attack. 

General McCall formed his division of six 
thousand men, with Meade’s brigade, north of 
the road, Seymour’s south of it, and Reynolds’s, 
— commanded in this battle by Colonel Simmons, 
—inreserve. He had five batteries, — Randall’s 
on the right, Kerns’s and Cooper’s in the centre, 
and Dietrich’s and Kanerhun’s on the left, —all 
in front of his infantry, looking down a gentle 
slope upon an open field; on the west there was 
a brook, fringed with a forest growth, with the 
farm of Mr. Frazier beyond. 


* ee 


SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 145 


The Battle-Field, 


. 


It was half past two before Hill was ready to 
make the attack. He threw out two regiments 
as skirmishers, which advanced to feel of Mc- 
Call’s lines; but they were repulsed by’ the Sev- 
enth and Twelfth Pennsylvania Reserves. Hill 
had twelve brigades, six of his own and six of 
Longstreet’s. Magruder and Huger had not ar- 


BaTTLe OF GLENDALE. 


1 Smith and Richardson. A Jackson, Ewell, and D. H. Hill, 
2 Slocum. B A. P. Hill and Longstreet. 

3 Kearney. C Newmarket road. 

4 Sumner. D Quaker road. 

65 Hooker. 

6 McCall. 


146 SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 


Southern Accounts. Affairs at Five o’clock. 


rived. His plan was to strike with all his force 
at once. 

Brigade after brigade advanced, but recoiled 
before the direct fire of the batteries, sustained 
by the infantry. 

‘The thunder of the cannon, the cracking of 
the musketry, from thousands of combatants, 
mingled with screams from the wounded and 
dying, were terrific to the ear and to the imagi- 
nation,’ says a correspondent of the Cologne 
Gazette. 

‘‘' Volleys upon volleys streamed across our 
front in such quick succession that it seemed 
impossible for any human being to live under 
it,”’ * writes a Rebel officer. 

Five o’clock! The battle has raged two hours 
and a half, sustained wholly by McCall, and Hill 
has not driven him an inch. 

The Rebels desist from their direct attack in 
front, and throw all their force upon Seymour’s 
left, south of the road. McCall sends over the 
Fifth and ,Eighth Regiments from his second 
line. 

‘ Ohange front with the infantry and artil- 
lery,”’ is his order. 

Hill is pushing along his left flank to gain his 
rear. 

McCall orders a charge, and it is executed 


* Battle-Fields of the South, p. 170. 


SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 147 


McCall rallies the Artillerymen. The Sixteenth Massachusetts. 


with a promptness and vigor sufficient to check 
the advancing troops. But his line has become 
disordered by the charge. Hill improves the 
opportunity, and hurries up his reserve brigades, 
which fire while advancing. 

The gunners of the German batteries leave 
their pieces. McCall rides among them, ral- 
lies them a moment, but the drivers are panic- 
stricken. They dash off to the rear, breaking 
through the infantry, and trampling down the 
men. The Rebels rush upon the deserted guns 
with unparalleled frenzy. The line of McCall 
is broken, and portions of his troops follow the 
fleeing cannoneers. 

General McCall tries to rally the fugitives, but 
they are deaf to all his orders. They stream on 
through Hooker’s and Sumner’s line. 

Will Hooker’s men join the drifting current? 
Now or never they must be brave. Now or never 
their country is to be saved. All hearts feel it; 
all hands are ready. They stand in the gateway 
of centuries. Unnumbered millions are beckon- 
ing them to do their duty. 

Hooker has Grover’s brigade on the right, 
Carr’s in the centre, and Sickles’s on the left, — 
just the order in which they stood at Williams- 
burg. 

The Sixteenth Massachusetts, led by the heroic 
Colonel Wyman, met the pursuers. The Sixty- 


148 SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 


How Hill is tossed about. The Repulse. 


Ninth Pennsylvania, of Sedgwick’s division, join- 
ing upon Hooker’s right, delivered at the same 
moment a fire upon the flank of the enemy. 
Along Sumner’s front, from King’s, Kirby’s, 
Tompkins’s, Owen’s, and Bartlett’s batteries, 
flashed double-shotted guns. It was as if a voice 
had said, ‘** Thus far and no farther!’ Hook- 
er’s infantry came into close battle-line, delivered 
a fire, which forced the Rebels over against 
Sumner’s batteries ; which, in turn, threw them 
against Kearney, and against Meade’s brigade, 
which had not joined in the fight. Grover 
pushed on with the First and Sixteenth Massa- 
chusetts, the Second New Hampshire, and Twen- 
ty-Sixth Pennsylvania, with reckless daring. 
Hill was driven back over all the ground he 
had won, with great slaughter. 

It was a decided repulse, but costly to the Six- 
teenth Massachusetts. Its noble colonel fell at 
the head of his regiment. These were the last 
words of one of the soldiers of that regiment: 
«‘T thank God that I am permitted to die for my 
country, and I thank him yet more that I am 
prepared, — or at least I hope I am.” 

So complete was the repulse that the Rebel 
troops became a mob, and fled in terror towards 
Richmond. 

‘¢ Many old soldiers,”’ says a Rebel officer, ‘‘ who 
had served on the plains of Arkansas and Mis- 


SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 149 


Hill’s Troops cut to pieces. The Rebel wounded. Malvern. 


souri wept in the bitterness of their souls like 
children. Of what avail had it been to us that. 
our best blood had flowed for six long days? Of 
what avail all of our unceasing and exhaustless 
endurance? Everything seemed lost, and a general 
depression came over all our hearts. Batteries 
dashed past in headlong flight. Ammunition, 
hospital, and supply wagons rushed along, and 
swept the troops away with them from the battle- 
field. In vain the most frantic exertions, entreaty, 
and self-sacrifice of the staff officers! The troops 
had lost their foothold, and all was over with the 
Southern Confederacy ! ”’* 

General Magruder’s arrival alone saved Hill 
from an ignominious flight. 

Through the night there was the red glare of 
torches upon the battle-field where the Rebel 
‘wounded were being gathered up. Great was 
the loss. Up to daylight there was no appa-— 
rent diminution of the heart-rending cries and 
groans of the wounded. A mournful wail was 
heard from Glendale during that long, dismal 
night. + 


THE BATTLE OF MALVERN. 


The battle-field of July 1st, 1862, bears the 
pleasant name of Malvern. It is on the north 
bank of the James, — an elevated plain near the 


* Cologne Gazette account. + Hooker’s Report. 


150 SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 


Dr. Carter. The House. Strawberry Plains. 


river, but declining gently towards the north, — 
divided into corn and wheat fields, bordered on 
the east and west and south by wooded ravines. 
The estate is owned by Dr. Carter. Although it 
bears a name so pleasant, there have been sad 
scenes upon those fertile fields, —not alone the 
shock, roar, and horror of a great battle, but 
the low wail of mothers for their infants, torn 
from their arms and sold to slave-traders, — 
the agonies of men under torture of the whip, 
their flesh torn and mangled by an unfeeling 
master. 

‘‘'Was he a good master?” I asked of an old 
negro at City Point, in July, 1864. 

‘No, sir. He was very bad, sir. He was de 
wussest dat eber was, sir. He was so bad dat 
we call him Hell Carter, sir. ’Cause we tink 
dat de Lord will send him to de bad place one ob 
dese days, sir. He go dere sure, sir.” 

The mansion is a quaint old structure, built of 
red bricks, surrounded by elms, and commanding 
a wide panorama of the James, of the valley of 
the Appomattox, and the distant Richmond hills. 

The house was standing in the time of the Rev- 
olution, and was marked on the map of Corn- 
wallis. 

West of Malvern are the Strawberry Plains. 
A streamlet, which rises in the vicinity of Glen- 
dale, courses to the James through a wooded ra- 


SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 151 


The Hill. Position ofthe Troops. 


vine between the Strawberry grounds and Mal- 
vern. The hill is so sharp and steep and high 
that General Barnard was able to plant two tiers 
of guns upon the slope, and crown it with heavy 
siege guns. The trees in the ravine were felled, 
and rifle-pits thrown up, extending along the 
western side and across the open field towards 
the north, where the slope of the hill shades into 
the level plain. 

Eastward, the trees were felled and _ their 
branches lopped by the pioneers. It was a strong 
position, and these preparations made it impreg- 
nable. Lee must assail it from the northwest, — 
over the wide plain, exposed to the fire of sixty 
cannon. 

Porter’s corps occupied the ravine between Mal- 
vern and the Plains. Couch’s, Kearney’s, and 
Hooker’s divisions held the front towards the 
north. Sumner’s and Franklin’s corps held the 
left; the Pennsylvania Reserves and the re- 
mainder of Keyes’s corps, the centre. The line 
was semicircular, and so well concentrated were 
the troops, that reinforcements, if needed, might 
be had with little delay. 

In the James River, two miles distant, lay a 
fleet of five gunboats, carrying heavy guns, — 
near enough to throw shells upon the Strawberry 
Plains. 

The Rebels advanced cautiously. Jackson, Ew- 


152 SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 


The Ground. 


BaTTLeE OF MALVERN. 


1 Warren’s Brig., Sykes’s Div. 9 McCall’s Division. 

2 Buchanan’s “ M 3 10 Abatis. 

8 Chapman’s G3 se A Jackson, D. H. Hill, and Ewell. 
4 Griffin’s ‘ Morell’s * B Longstreet. 

5 Martindale’s ‘ or ae C Magruder and Huger. 

6 Butterfield’s “ wu L DA. BP. Hill. 

7 Oouch’s Division. E Holmes. 


8 Sumner’s and Heintzelman’s Corps. 


SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 1538 


. Advance of the Rebels. Magruder in Command. 


ell, Whiting, and D. H. Hill moved down the 
Quaker road, while Magruder, Longstreet, Huger, 
and Holmes came down the Richmond road, 
Jackson, D. H. Hill, and Ewell appeared in front 
of Couch; Huger and Magruder, in front of Mo- 
rell’s division of Porter’s corps; while Holmes 
filed through the woods towards the James, along 
the western edge of Strawberry Plains. 

Although the distance from Glendale is but 
two and a half miles, it was past ten o’clock be- 
fore the head of Magruder’s columns appeared 
insight. A. P. Hill’s division, which had been so 
terribly shattered at Glendale, was left behind. 

Magruder shelled the woods and advanced cau- 
tiously. There was a pattering skirmish fire 
through the forenoon, with an artillery duel at 
long range. 

Noon passed, and there was no apparent dispo- 
sition on the part of the Rebels to make an attack. 
They dreaded the terrible fire from the numerous 
guns gleaming in the sun upon the hillside. 

General Magruder brought all of the cannon 
into position which could be advantageously 
posted, and at two o’clock opened a rapid fire, 
which was replied to by the batteries on the hill. 
He threw forward his skirmishers at an earlier 
hour. 

Jackson moved forward a division upon Couch 


an hour later, but it was hurled back in confusion 
7%* 


154 SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 


Gen. Holmes on Strawberry Plain. Magruder and his Officers. 


by the fire of the batteries, and the deadly volley 
delivered from the rifle-pits. 

Holmes, all the while, had been edging towards 
the river, to gain the rear of McClellan, but the 
enormous shells from the gunboats, which tore 
down the forests, paralyzed his soldiers. 

There was a consultation among the Rebel 
commanders. Lee had intrusted the command 
in his centre to Magruder. His brigadier-gen- 
erals did not want to advance over the plain. 

‘I am unwilling to slaughter my brigade,” 
said General Cobb, “ but, if you command me, I 
shall make the charge if my last man falls.” 

‘¢ T intend to make the charge, no matter what 
it costs,’ said Magruder. 

The commanders went to their brigades, mur- 
muring that Magruder was drunk, that it would 
be madness to make the attack.* 

Magruder formed his line in the woods. Ar- 
mistead’s brigade moved upon the Union picket 
line and drove it back. ‘ Advance rapidly, press 
forward your whole line, and follow up Armis- 
tead’s successes. They are reported to be getting 
off,’ was Lee’s message to Magruder. 

It was past six o’clock before Mahone, Ransom, 
Wright, Jones, and Cobb were ready. At the 
word of command, fifteen thousand men move 
from the shelter of the woods and appear upon 


* Pollard, Southern Hist. 


vm SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 155 


Recklessness of the Rebels. The Gunboats. 


the open plain, moving in solid phalanx, — close, 
compact, shoulder to shoulder, to capture, by a 
desperate charge, the batteries upon the hillside. 
It is madness! Success has made them reck- 
less. 

With shoutings and howlings they break into a 
run. Instantly the hill is all aflame, from base 
to summit. Shells, shrapnel, and canister are 
poured upon them. There is the bellowing of 
a hundred cannon, mingled with the multitu- 
dinous rattling of thousands of small arms. 

The Rebel lines melt away, — whole squadrons 
tumbling headlong. In vain the effort, the men 
waver, turn, and disappear within the woods. 

Magruder is furious at the failure. Again the 
attempt, — again the same result. 

The sun is going down behind the hills when 
he makes his last effort. Meagher and Sickles 
go up from the right, and strengthen Porter’s 
centre. There isa shifting of batteries, — a move- 
ment to new positions, —a re-arranging of regi- 
ments. The artillery on both sides, and the 
gunboats, keep up a constant fire. 

The Rebels advance, but they are not able to 
reach the base of the hill. “ From sixteen bat- 
teries,” says the chaplain of the Fourth Texas, 
*¢ and from their gunboats they beclouded the day 
and lit the night with a lurid glare. Add to this 
the light and noise of our own artillery, which 


156 SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 


How the Rebels viewed the Battle. Retreat to Harrison’s Landing. 


had been brought forward, and, like an opposing 
volcano with a hundred craters, it gleamed, and 
flashed streams and sheets of fire, — while long 
lines of human forms cast their shadows upon the 
darkness in the background, and each joined with 
his firelock in hand to contribute to the terrors 
of the awful scene.” * 

Officers and men, in this contest, go down in 
one indiscriminate slaughter. They are whirled 
into the air, torn, mangled, blown into fragments. — 
They struggle against the merciless storm, break, 
and disappear in the darkness, panting, exhaust- 
ed, foiled, dispirited, demoralized, refusing to be 
murdered, and uttering execrations upon the 
drunken Magruder.t 

Although the army was upon James River, and 
in communication with the gunboats, and al- 
though the Rebels had been repulsed mainly by 
the artillery, orders were issued by General Mc- 
Clellan to retreat to Harrison’s Landing. At 
midnight the troops were on the march, steal- 
ing noiselessly away, abandoning the wounded. 

‘“‘ Although,” says General McClellan, “ the re- 
sult of the battle of Malvern was a complete 
victory, it was necessary. to fall back still farther, 
in order to reach a point where our supplies 
could be brought to us with certainty.” £ 


* Campaign from Texas to Maryland. 
+ Battle-Fields of the South. t Report, p. 140. 


SEVEN DAYS OF FIGHTING. 167 


Retreat of General Kearny. 


There were some officers who were much 
amazed at this order. They felt that having 
reached the river and defeated the enemy with 
terrible slaughter there should be no more fall- 
ing back. 

“Tt is one of the strangest things in this week 
of disaster,’ says Chaplain Marks, “ that General 
McClellan ordered a retreat to Harrison’s Land- 
ing, six miles down James River, after we had 
gained so decided a victory. When the order 
was received by the impatient and eager army, 
consternation and amazement overwhelmed our 
patriotic and ardent hosts. Some refused to obey 
the command. General Martindale shed tears of 
shame. The brave and chivalrous Kearny said 
in the presence of many officers, “I, Philip 
Kearny, an old soldier, enter my solemn protest 
against this order for retreat; we ought, instead 
of retreating, to follow up the enemy and take 
Richmond. And, in full view of all the respon- 
sibility of such a declaration, I say to you all, 
such an order can only be prompted by cowardice 
or treason.” * 


* Peninsular Campaign, p. 294. 


0: APOE Bia xs: 


AFFAIRS IN FRONT OF WASHINGTON. 


General Pope. Invasion of the North contemplated. 


HE prospects of the Rebels, which were so 

gloomy in April, were bright once more. 
They had driven the Army of the Potomac away 
from Richmond. It was August. A month had 
passed and General McClellan had shown no 
disposition to advance again upon Richmond. 
A consultation was held in that city. President 
Davis said that the time had come to strike a 
great blow. General Pope was in front of Wash- 
ington with forty thousand men. It was de- 
termined to crush him, invade Maryland, and 
capture Baltimore and Washington... The South- 
ern newspapers hinted that Tennessee, Kentucky, 
and the whole of Virginia were to be recovered, 
that Maryland was to be liberated from oppres- 
sion, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, and Cincinnati as- 
sailed. 

General Lee’s army numbered not far from 
one hundred thousand, having been reinforced 
by troops from the South. Those troops who had 
fought Burnside in North Carolina were hurried 


AFFAIRS IN FRONT OF WASHINGTON. 159 


Conscription enforced in the South. Gen. Halleck and Gen. McClellan. 


up; others were sent from South Carolina, Flori- 
da, and Georgia. Conscription was enforced vig- 
orously. General Lee proposed to leave a force 
in Richmond large enough to hold it against 
McClellan, while he sent the main body of 
the army to fall like a thunderbolt on General 
Pope. 

These preparations were known in Washington, 
and on the 8d of August General Halleck, who 
had been placed in command of all the troops 
in the field, telegraphed to General McClellan 
to send his army to Aquia Creek as soon as pos- 
sible. General Burnside’s troops were withdrawn 
from Fortress Monroe, and united to Pope’s 
army. 

General McClellan wished to remain upon the 
James and attack Richmond from that quarter, 
but General Halleck felt that it was absolutely 
necessary to unite the two armies. ‘‘ You must 
move with all possible celerity,’’ was the telegram 
sent on the 9th of August. 

But it was not till the 16th that the army broke 
up its camp and moved down the Peninsula, to 
Yorktown. 

While that despatch of the 9th was on the 
wires, Jackson, D. H. Hill, Ewell, and Winder 
were engaged with Pope on the Rapidan. 

General Pope had advanced from the Rappa- 
hannock, to hold the enemy in check till the 


160 AFFAIRS IN FRONT OF WASHINGTON. 


Culpepper. The Mountain. 


Army of the Potomac could be brought back 
from the Peninsula. 


BATTLE OF CEDAR MOUNTAIN. 


Fertile and fair are the farms of Culpepper, as 
beautiful as any in the Old Dominion. ‘They are 
watered by swiftly running streams. Their 
slopes are verdant and sunny, sheltered by the 
Blue Ridge from wintry blasts. Beyond the 
town of Culpepper, towards the south, there is a 
hillock, called Cedar Mountain, which rises ab- 
ruptly, and in shape like a sugar-loaf. Near the 
Mountain is the house of Rey. Mr. Slaughter. 
Robinson’s Creek winds through his farm, south 
of the Mountain, on its course to the Rapidan. 
North of the Mountain is the residence of Mrs. 
Crittenden. The house is shaded by overhang- 
ing trees. It stands on the west side of the high- 
way leading from Culpepper to Madison. Stand- 
ing there and looking towards the Mountain, we 
see fields of corn and wheat, groves and woods, 
bordering the field. 

General Crawford’s brigade of Banks’s corps, 
in the advance from Culpepper to the Rapidan, 
on the 8th of August, encountered Jackson’s 
pickets at the base of the Mountain, upon the 
farm of Mr. Slaughter. 

On Saturday morning, the 9th instant, General 
Williams’s division joined Crawford. As the 


AFFAIRS IN FRONT OF WASHINGTON. 161 


Mrs. Crittenden’s House. Jackson on the Mountain. The Skirmishes, 


troops approached the farm of Mrs. Crittenden, 
the base and summit of the Mountain seemingly 
became volcanic. There was an outburst of 
flame and smoke, a screaming in the air, and the: 
deep reverberation of the cannonade. 

Williams’s batteries were soon in position, and 
replied with shot and shells. 

General Banks arrived. He formed a line of 
battle, placing Williams’s division west of the 
Madison road, near Mrs. Crittenden’s house, and 
Augur’s division east of it, nearer the Mountain. 
On the right of the line west of the house was 
Gordon’s brigade, next Crawford, Geary, Greene, 
and Prince. 

Jackson, from his lookout on the Mountain, 
could see all the movements of General Banks. 
He threw out a line of skirmishers. Banks did 
the same. They met midway the armies, and 
began the contest. An hour passed of rapid ar- 
tillery firing. Then the infantry became en- 
gaged, Jackson throwing his brigades upon 
Prince, turning his flank, and pushing him back. 
At the same time there was a furious attack upon 
Crawford. His men stood it awhile, then charged 
the Rebel lines, but were repulsed. Gordon 
moved in to take his place. The left of the 
line, Prince and Geary and Greene, was swing- 
ing back. Jackson was moving fresh brigades 


upon the centre, but Gordon held them in check. 
K 


162 AFFAIRS IN FRONT OF WASHINGTON. 


Gordon’s Brigade. Ricketts’s Division. A Truce. 


His men dropped rapidly, but so destructive were 
his volleys that the Rebel line wavered and then 
retreated. But other brigades were thrown upen 
Gordon’s right flank. They swept him with an 
enfilading fire, and he, too, was compelled to re- 
treat or be cut off. He retired past Mrs. Critten- 
den’s, across Cedar Creek. There Banks formed 
again, planted his artillery, and waited the ad- 
vance of the enemy. 

Ricketts’s division came up from McDowell’s 
corps, ready to receive Jackson, but the Rebel 
general was content with what he had already 
accomplished. 

During the night there was an ruler duel, 
and a skirmish among the pickets. 

In the morning, a white flag was displayed on 
the field, and the wounded were gathered, and 
the dead buried. Officers from both armies met 
and conversed freely of the war. General Hart- 
suff, and the Rebel General Stuart, who were old 
acquaintances, shook hands upon the ground 
where the contest had been so fierce. 

General Jackson withdrew his forces after the 
battle towards Gordonsville, to wait the advance 
of the main army, under Lee, while General 
Pope pushed south to the Rapidan. 

On the 16th, General Pope’s cavalry captured 
a Rebel courier, who was bearing a letter from 
Lee to Jackson, from which it was ascertained 


AFFAIRS IN FRONT OF WASHINGTON. 163 


The Rebel Courier. General Stuart in Pope’s Rear. 


that the whole of Lee’s army was moving north 
from Richmond, to crush Pope before McClellan 
could join him. General Pope was prompt to 
act upon this information. He retreated to the 
north bank of the Rappahannock, planted his 
artillery to cover the fords, hoping to hold Lee 
in check till he was reinforced. 

Lee followed rapidly with his whole army. 
He reached the Rappahannock on the 21st, at- 
tempted to cross, but was foiled in all his move- 
ments. 

Suddenly, on the night of the 22d, General 
Stuart fell upon the Orange and Alexandria 
Railroad at Catlett’s Station, in General Pope’s 
rear. It was a dark, rainy night. Many army 
wagons were there, and some were burned. All 
the horses were taken. General Pope lost his 
personal baggage. 

In the morning, General Pope understood that 
it was Lee’s intention to gain his rear, and cut 
him off from Washington. Jackson was moving 
along the base of the Blue Ridge by swift 
marches. - 

The mountains, which at Leesburg are called 
the Catoctin Range, farther south are called the 
Bull Run Mountains. There is a gap at Aldie, 
and another one at the head of Broad Run, called 
Thoroughfare Gap. There the mountain is cut 
down sharp and square. There is room for the 


164. AFFAIRS IN FRONT OF WASHINGTON. - 


View from the Mountain. Jackson’s Movements. 


railroad, the turnpike, and the creek. A hun- 
dred men might hold it against a thousand. 
That part of the mountain south of the gap is 
about ten miles long. 

One day I climbed the ridge to take a look at 
the surrounding country. Northward I could 
see the gap. <A mile or two east of it, on the 
Manassas Gap Railroad, was the little village of 
Gainsville. Directly east was the cluster of 
houses called Greenwich, on the Warrenton and 
Centreville Turnpike. Ten miles distant, a little 
south of east, was Manassas Junction. Bristow’s 
Station is south; Catlett’s, southwest. Warren- 


ton, one of the prettiest towns in Virginia, lies — 


at the foot of the mountain, southwest, with roads 
radiating in all directions, as if it were the body 
of a spider, and the highways were legs. West- 


ward is the Blue Ridge, looming dark and high, 


like an ocean billow ready to break over all the 
surrounding plains. In the northwest are the 
Cobble Mountains, —hillocks which lie between 
Bull Run and the Blue Ridge. Upon the rail- 
road which winds towards Manassas Gap is the 
town of Salerh. 

If I had stood there on the 26th of August, I 
should have seen a body of Rebel troops moving 
across from the base of the Blue Ridge, through 
fields, through forests, and along the highways, 
towards Salem with great rapidity,—the men 


AFFAIRS IN FRONT OF WASHINGTON. 165 


Jackson at Thoroughfare Gap. Pope’s Retreat. Kettle Run. 


footsore, weary, — many of them barefoot, few of 
them decently dressed, — but urged on by their 
officers. It is Jackson’s corps pushing for Thor- 
oughfare Gap. 

At Warrenton, General McDowell is breaking 
camp, and moving east over the Centreville 
turnpik each Gainsville. General Sigel 
follows _ General Reno, with Burnside’s 
troops, is marching for Greenwich. General 
Kearny’s and General Hooker’s men, who have 
fought at Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Glendale, 
and Malvern, have joined Pope, and are moving 
along the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. 
General Porter is at Warrenton Junction. Gen- 
eral Banks is coming up near the Rappahannock 
to join Porter. 

On the 26th, General Ewell’s division, having 
passed through Thorough Gap, fell upon 
Manassas Junction, burnt. the depot, an immense 
amount of stores, a railroad train, and the Rudco 
across Bull Run. “ae 

General Taylor’s brigade, of Franklin’s corps, 
reached the spot, but were obliged to fall back 
towards Fairfax, their commander mortally 
wounded. 

Lee was following Pope. He hoped to erush 
him, — to grind him to powder between his own 
and Jackson’s force then in Pope’s rear. 

West of Manassas Junction is Kettle Run. 


166 AFFAIRS IN FRONT OF WASHINGTON. 


Jackson Moves to Centreville. The Turnpike. 


General Ewell formed his line on the eastern 
bank, and waited Pope’s advance. Hooker fell 
upon him on the afternoon of the 27th, and 
defeated him. Hwell fell back upon Jackson and 
A. PH 

Hooker was out of ammunition. Pope ordered 
Porter to join him, but he did not he order. 

Jackson was in a dangerous place. He was 
not strong enough to advance and give~battle to 
Pope, who was now pressing him. He must 
retreat and gain time,— delay an engagement 
till Lee could come up. He fell back before 
Pope from Manassas to Centreville, then turned 
west over the Warrenton turnpike, along which 
McDowell’s army marched in the first battle of 
Bull Run, the 21st of July, 1861. 

At this moment McDowell was moving east on 
the same turnpike. | 

At six o’clock King’s division of McDowell’s 
corps, which was in advance, came in collision 
with Jackson at Groveton, on the western edge 
of the old battle-field. Gibbon’s and Doubleday’s 
brigades were engaged a short time, but darkness 
put an end to the conflict. 

Pope, with Hooker, Kearny, and Reno, had 
reached Centreville ; Porter was at Manassas 
Junction; Banks, south of it; while Sigel and 
McDowell were southwest of Jackson, towards 
Warrenton. Jackson was in danger of being 


AFFAIRS IN FRONT OF WASHINGTON. 167 


Pope’s Orders. Longstreet approaching. New Orders. 


crushed. Pope, instead of being ground to pow- 
der, had manceuvred so admirably that he felt 
almost sure that Jackson would be utterly routed. 

He lost no time in sending out orders. ‘‘ Hold 
your ground at all hazards,” was his despatch to 
General King. ‘ Push on at one o’clock to- 
night,” was the word sent to Kearny, who was 
to move west over Warrenton turnpike and 
attack Jackson’s rear. ‘Assault vigorously at 
daylight,’’ he added, *‘ for Hooker and Reno will 
be on hand to help you.” 

** Move on Centreville at the earliest dawn,” 
was the order sent to Porter at Manassas. 

General Pope was sure that he could crumble 
Jackson before Longstreet, who, he knew, was 
rapidly advancing towards Thoroughfare Gap, 
could arrive. Ricketts’s division was thrown 
north, to hold the gap. 

But General King’s troops were exhausted. 
Instead of holding the ground, he fell back to- 
wards the junction. 

General Ricketts sent a small force up to the 
gap, but Longstreet, who had reached Salem, 
sent a part of his troops over the mountains 
north, gained their rear, forced them back, and 
thus opened the gate for the advance of his 
corps. Ricketts joined McDowell at the junction. 

Alkthis made it necessary for General Pope to 
issue new orders. He sent out his aides. 


168 AFFAIRS IN FRONT OF WASHINGTON. 


General Banks. 


‘Attack at once,” was the word to Sigel. 

‘Push down the turnpike, as soon as possible, 
towards any heavy firing you may hear,” was the 
despatch to Kearny and Hooker, also to Reno, 
commanding a division of Burnside’s corps. 

“ Be on the field at daybreak,’ was the mes- 
sage to Porter. 

‘‘ Send your train to Manassas and Centre- 
ville. Repair the railroad to Bull Run. Work 
night and day,” were the instructions to Banks, 
who was guarding the trains. 

It was of the utmost importance that the attack 
should be made instantly, before Longstreet ar- 
rived ; and to that end General Pope directed all 
his energies. . 


CHAPTER X. 


BATTLE OF GROVETON. 


Battle of the 29th of August. Jackson driven. 


NHE morning of the 29th dawned calm, clear, 
and beautiful. Sigel obeyed orders. He 
was on the northwest corner of the old battle- 
field, near Dogan’s house. Jackson was north 
of the turnpike, his right resting on Bull Run, at 
Sudley Springs, and his left on the turnpike 
near Groveton, along the line of an unfinished 
railway. 

Schurz was on the right in Sigel’s corps, Milroy 
in the centre, Schenck on the left, with Stein- 
wehr in reserve. For an hour there was the 
deep roll of artillery. 

Then the line advanced. There wasa sharp 
contest, — Sigel occupying the ground which 
Jackson held in the first fight on that memorable 
field, and Jackson upon the ground, where Burn- 
side, Howard, and Hunter formed their lines. 
Milroy was driven, but Schurz and Schenck held 
their position. Hooker and Kearny were astir 
at daylight. They crossed the stream at the Stone 


Bridge, swung out into the fields, and moved 
8 


170 BATTLE OF GROVETON. 


Longstreet reinforces Jackson. The unfinished Railroad. 


north towards Sudley Springs, forcing Jackson 
back on Longstreet, who was resting after his 
hard march, his men eating a hearty meal from 
the stores captured at Manassas. He was in no 
condition to fight at that early hour. 

Time slipped away—precious hours! Mce- 
Dowell had not come. Porter had not been heard 
from. ‘ Longstreet is getting ready,” was the 
report from the scouts. 

Noon passed. One o’clock came round. ‘“ Long- 
street is joining Jackson,” was the word from the 
pickets. The attack must be made at once if 
ever. 

It began at two o’clock by Hooker and Kearny 
on the right, pushing through the woods and 
across the fields between Dogan’s house and 
Sudley Church.* 

The veterans of the Peninsula move upon an 
enemy whom they’ have met before. Jackson 
has made the line of a half-finished railroad his © 
defence, and his men are behind the embank- 
ments and in the excavations. It is a long, 
desperate conflict. There are charges upon the 
enemy’s lines and repulses. Three, — four, — 
five o’clock, and Porter has not come. McDowell, 
who should have marched northwest to Grove- 
ton to meet Longstreet, has, through some mis- 
take, marched east of that place, and joined 


* See « My Days and Nights on the Battle-Field.” 


BATTLE OF GROVETON. 171 


Sunset. Porter not heard from. The Auspicious Moment lost. 


the line where Kearny and Hooker are driving 
Jackson. 

At this hour, sunset, on August 29th, Kearny, 
Hooker, and Reno are pushing west, north of the 
turnpike, close upon the heels of Jackson. King’s 
division of McDowell’s corps is moving west along 
the turnpike past Dogan’s house, to attack what 
has been Jackson’s right centre, but which is now 
the left centre of the united forces of Jackson and 
Longstreet. Sigel’s brigades have been shattered, 
and are merely holding their ground south of the 
. turnpike. O, if Porter with his twelve thousand 
fresh troops was only there to fall on Jackson’s 
right flank! But he is not in sight. Nothing 
has been heard from him. He has had all day 
to march five miles over an unobstructed road. 
He has had his imperative orders, — has heard 
the roar of battle. He isan officer in the Regular 
service, and knows that it is the first requisite of 
an officer or a soldier to obey orders. 

Longstreet is too late upon the ground to make 
an attack with his whole force. The sun goes 
down and darkness comes on. ‘The contest for 
the day is over. Jackson has been driven on 
his right, and Heintzelman’s corps holds the 
ground. Both armies sleep on their arms. 

The auspicious moment for crushing Jackson 
had passed. ‘The most that Pope could hope for 
was to hold his ground till Franklin and Sumner, 


172 BATTLE OF GROVETON. 


Battle of the 30th of August. 


who had landed at Alexandria, could join him. 
Thus far the battle had been in his favor. He 
wished to save his wagons which were at Manas-' 
sas. If he retreated across Bull Run and made 
that his line of defence, he must abandon his 
trains at Manassas. If he did this, Banks would 
be cut off. He hoped, with Porter’s magnificent 
corps holding his left flank, to defeat Lee. 

The morning of the 30th dawned. The pick- 


BaTTLE OF GROVETON. 


1 Hooker. A Rebel left wing, commanded by Jackson. 

2 Kearny. B_ Rebel right wing, commanded by Longstreet. 
3 Reno. C Stone Bridge. 

4 Porter. D Dogan’s House. 

5 McDowell. RR Unfinished Railroad. 


6 Sigel. 


BATTLE OF GROVETON. 173 


The Lines of Battle. Heintzelman’s Troops. 


ets of the two armies were within a hundred 
yards of each other. The air was calm, the sky 
clear, and the morning as bright and beautiful as 
that Sabbath when the first great battle of the war 
was fought. 

The Rebel line was crescent-shaped. Its left 
under Jackson reached from Sudley Springs to a 
point near the turnpike, about a mile and a half 
west of Groveton. Longstreet commanded the 
right wing, which extended from Jackson’s com- 
mand far to the southwest, stretching beyond the 
Manassas Gap Railroad. 

This point was the centre of the Rebel line. 
It was a high knoll or ridge of land which com- 
manded two thirds of Lee’s front. Here were 
forty-eight pieces of artillery. It was a very 
strong position. From this knoll eastward, the 
Rebel artillerymen looked down a long slope 
broken by undulations, the ground partitioned 
by fences, dividing it into fields, pastures, and 
wooded hills and hollows. 

Pope had about forty thousand men, who stood 
face to face with the army which had driven 
McClellan from the Chickahominy, and which 
met him a few days later at Antietam. 

The troops which had come from the Army 
of the Potomac were worn and dispirited. Hook- 
er’s and Kearny’s divisions had been in nearly 
all the battles of the Peninsula. Almost alone 


174 BATTLE OF GROVETON. 


Porter arrives. Pope’s Army. 


they had fought the battle of Williamsburg. 
They were at Seven Pines, in skirmish after 
skirmish on the Chickahominy, and at Glendale 
and Malvern. Hooker on this morning of the 
30th had but two thousand four hundred and 
forty-one men—so sadly had disease and battle 
thinned the ranks. 

Porter came up tardily. He had twelve thou- 
sand men, but they did not like General Pope. 
They believed that General McClellan had been 
cruelly sacrificed by the government. There was 
no hearty co-operation by the officers of Porter’s 
command with General Pope. Griffin’s and 
Piatt’s brigades took the road to Centreville, 
either by mistake or otherwise, and were not in 
the battle.* Instead. of twelve thousand, Porter 
brought but seven thousand to the field. Sigel’s 
troops were mainly Germans, wanting in dis-. 
cipline, vigor, energy, and endurance. Pope’s 
army was a conglomeration, wanting coherence. 
He had, besides the troops from the Army of the 
Potomac, McDowell’s, who had been an army by 
themselves ; Sigel’s, who had served under Fre- 
mont, whom they idolized ; Reno’s, who looked 
upon Burnside as the only commander who had 
achieved victories. General Pope was from the * 
West. He was unacquainted with his troops, 
and they with him. He had issued an order 


* Pope’s Report. 


BATTLE OF GROVETON. 


Gen. McClellan at Alexandria. McClellan’s Despatch. 


permitting them to forage at will, which had 
produced laxity of discipline and demoralization. 
Yet with all these things against him, he felt it to 
be his duty to offer battle to Lee. 

Porter arrived with his seven thousand about 
nine o’clock, more than twenty-four hours late. 
He came into position in front of Sigel on the 
turnpike. Pope’s line was thus complete. Hook- 
er on the right at Sudley; Kearny and Reno 
next reaching to the turnpike; Porter next, 
with Sigel in rear; and McDowell commanding 
Reynolds’s, King’s, and Ricketts’s divisions on 
the left, near the ground where the Rebels made 
their last stand in the first battle of Manassas. 

Had General Pope awaited an attack, the bat- 
tle might have had a different ending, but his 
provisions were exhausted, and he could not 
wait. He must fight at once and win a victory 
or retreat. 

He had sent to Alexandria for provisions. 
General McClellan was there. The Army of the 
Potomac, when it arrived there, was in the de- 
partment commanded by General Pope, and was 
therefore subject to his orders, which left McClel- 
lan without a command. Franklin and Sumner, 
with thirty thousand men, were moving out and 
could guard the trains. At daylight, while Gen- 
eral Pope was forming his lines, endeavoring to 
hold at bay the army before which McClellan 


176 BATTLE OF GROVETON. 


Gen. Pope discouraged. Beginning of the Battle. The Left Wing. 


had retired from the Chickahominy, Savage Sta- 
tion, Glendale, and Malvern, General McClellan 
informed General Pope that the supplies would 
be loaded into cars and wagons as soon as Pope 
would send in a cavalry escort, to guard the 
trains! 

‘Such a letter,” says General Pope, “ when 
we were fighting the enemy, and Alexandria 
swarming with troops, needs no comment. Bad 
as was the situation of the cavalry, I was in no 
situation to spare troops from the front, nor 
could they have gone to Alexandria and returned 
within a time by which we must have had pro- 
visions or have fallen back in the direction of 
Washington. Nor do I see what service cavalry 
could give in guarding railroad trains. It was 
not till I received this letter, that I began to feel 
discouraged and nearly hopeless of any success- 
ful issue to the operations with which I was 
charged.” * 

The battle at that moment was beginning; the 
reveille of the cannonade at that early hour was 
waking thousands to engage in their last day’s 
work in the service of their country. Through 
the forenoon there was a lively picket firing, ac- 
companying an artillery duel. 

‘‘The enemy is making a movement to turn 
our left,’ was Sigel’s message to Pope a little past 


* Pope’s Report. 


BATTLE OF GROVETON. LTE 


Porter retreats. How the Lines swung on a Pivot. 


noon. Lee’s division, as they passed down from 
Thoroughfare Gap, marched towards Manassas 
Junction, and came into line beyond McDowell. 

General Reynolds, who was south of the turn- 
pike, advanced to feel of Longstreet’s position. 
He found the enemy sheltered in the woods. 
The musketry began. Porter, southwest of Do- 
gan’s house, moved into the forest, where the 
-battle had raged the night before. He was re- 
ceived with sharp volleys. His men fought but 
a short time and retreated. 

“Why are you retreating so soon?” General 
Sigel asked of the men. 

“We are out of ammunition.” * 

They passed on to Sigel’s rear. 

Suddenly there were thundering volleys on the 
left. Lee was attacking with great vigor. At 
the same moment, Hooker, Kearny, and Reno 
were driving Jackson towards Sudley, swinging 
him back from his advanced position. 

The battle line was swinging like a gate piv- 
oted on its centre. The Rebels followed Porter, 
cheering and shouting. Grover’s brigade of 
Hooker’s division, which had been facing west, 
changed its line of march to the south, came 
down past Dogan’s house, to the line of unfin- 
ished railroad which Lee had taken for his de- 
fence. 

* Sigel’s Report. 
8* L 


178 BATTLE OF GROVETON. 


Milroy’s Position. Grover’s splendid Charge. Lee’s last Attack. 


Milroy’s brigade of Sigel’s corps was lying in 
the road which leads from Groveton towards the 
south. if 

The Rebels were advancing upon him. Schurz, 
who was still farther south, was retiring before 
the mass of Rebel troops, who came within reach 
of Milroy’s guns, which thinned their ranks at 
every discharge. But the Rebels were on Mil- 
roy’s left flank, which was bending like a bruised - 
reed before their advance. Grover came down 
with those men who had never failed to do their 
whole duty. 

‘‘ We stood in three lines,” said a wounded 
Rebel officer to me at Warrenton, two months 
after the battle. ‘‘ They fell upon us like a thun- 
derbolt. They paid no attention to our volleys. 
We mowed them down, but they went right 
through our first line, through our second, and 
advanced to the railroad embankment, and there 
we stopped them. They did it so splendidly that 
we could n’t help cheering them. It made me 
feel bad to fire on such brave fellows.” 

They had charged into the thickest of the ene- 
my’s columns, but could not hold the position, 
and were forced back. 

Lee formed his lines for the decisive onset. 
Making the point on the turnpike, where Long- 
street’s command joined Jackson’s, he swung his 
right against McDowell, Sigel, and Porter. 


> 


BATTLE OF GROVETON. 179 


What the Rebels say of the Battle. Pope’s Retreat. 


Hood was on the left of the charging column, 
nearest the turnpike ; then Pickett, Jenkins, 
Toombs, and Kemper. Evans and Anderson 
were in reserve. 

It was impossible to withstand this force ; yet 
it was a furious, obstinate, bloody fight. 

“Tt had been a task of almost superhuman 
labor,’ writes Pollard, the Southern historian, 
“to drive the enemy from his strong points, de- 
fended as they were by the best artillery and 
infantry in the Federal army, but in less than 
four hours from the commencement of the bat- 
tle, our indomitable energy had accomplished 
everything. The arrival of Anderson with his 
reserves, soon after the engagement was fairly 
opened, proved a timely acquisition, and the 
handsome manner in which he brought his troops 
into position showed the cool and skilful gen- 
eral. . Our generals, Lee, Longstreet, Hood, 
Kemper, Evans, Jones, Jenkins, and others, all 
shared the dangers to which they exposed their 
men.” * 

Night put an end to the conflict. When darkness 
came on, Lee found that he was still confronted 
by men in line, with cannon well posted on the 
eminences towards Stone Bridge. He had gained 
the battle-ground, but had not routed the Union 
army. 


* Southern History, Second Year, p. 113. 


L830. BATTLE OF GROVETON. 


Lee exhausted. The Strength of the two Armies. 


The retreat was conducted in good order across 
Bull Run. General Stahl’s brigade was the last 
to cross Stone Bridge, which was accomplished 
at midnight, without molestation from Lee, who 
was too much exhausted to make the attempt to 
rout the forty thousand men, who had resisted the 
attack of all his troops,— the same army which 
had compelled General McClellan, commanding 
an army of a hundred thousand, to move from 
the Chickahominy to the James. 

General Pope states his own force to have been 
not over forty thousand. If the whole of Por- 
ter’s corps had been engaged, and if Banks had 
been available, he would have had about fifty 
thousand men. The force against him numbered 
not less than eighty thousand. In the subse- 
quent battle of Antietam, Lee had the same 
army which fought this battle, estimated by Gen- 
eral McClellan to number ninety-seven thousand 
men,* with the exception of those lost him at 
South Mountain and Harper’s Ferry. 

The battle of Groveton was therefore one of the 
most bravely fought and obstinate contests of the 
war, —fought by General Pope under adverse cir- 
cumstances, — great inferiority of numbers, with a 
subordinate commander who disobeyed orders ; 
with other officers who manifested no hearty co- 
operation. It will be for the future historian to 


* General McClellan’s Report, p. 213. 


BATTLE OF GROVETON. 181 


The Retreat to Washington. What General McClellan said. 


do full justice to the brave men who made so 
noble a fight, who, had they been supported as 
they should have been, would doubtless have 
won a glorious victory. 


THE RETREAT TO WASHINGTON. 


General Sumner and General Franklin joined 
General Pope at Centreville. But the army was 
disorganized. The defeat, the want of co-opera- 
tion on the part of some of the officers of the 
Army of the Potomac, had a demoralizing in- 
fluence. 

General McClellan was at Alexandria. On the 
29th, while Pope was trying to crush Jackson 
before the arrival of Longstreet, waiting anxiously 
for the appearance of Porter, who had disobeyed 
the order given him, the President, solicitous to 
hear from the army, inquired by telegram of 
him: ‘* What’s the news from Manassas ?” 

‘‘Stragglers report,’ was the reply, “ that 
the enemy are evacuating Centreville, and retir- 
ing through Thoroughfare Gap. I am clear that 
one of two courses should be adopted: first, to 
concentrate all our available force, to open com- 
munication with Pope; second, to leave Pope to 
get out of his scrape, and at once use all our 
means to make the capital safe.”’ * 

General Pope had opened his communications | 


* McClellan’s Report 


182 BATTLE OF GROVETON. 


What General Pope had done. Death of General Kearny. 


unaided by General Mc@lellan. He had moved 
to the Rapidan, to enable General McClellan to 
withdraw from the Peninsula; had held his 
ground till the Rebel cavalry cut the railroad at 
Manassas; then with great rapidity he had moved 
to crush Jackson, and had failed only through 
the deliberate disobedience of orders by General 
Porter. | 

Lee, on the second day after the battle of 
Groveton, made another flank movement north 
of Centreville, to cut off the Union army from 
Washington. There was a fight at Chantilly, 
where the brave and impetuous Kearny was 
killed, and the enemy fell back behind the in- 
trenchments in front of Washington, and passed 
from the hands of General Pope into the hands 
of General McClellan. 

It will be for the future historian to determine 
the measure of blame or praise upon him, — the 
causes of disaster to the Army of the Potomac 
on the Peninsula, and to the Army of Virginia 
at Manassas. A military tribunal, composed of 
the peers of General Porter, has pronounced its 
verdict upon him. He has been cashiered, — 
lost his place and his good name forever. 


CHAPTER Xl. 


INVASION OF MARYLAND. 


What the People of the South thought of Maryland. The Song. 


. E are going to liberate Maryland,” said 

a Rebel officer to a friend of mine who 
was taken prisoner at Catlett’s Station. Through- 
out the South it was believed that the people of 
Maryland were down-trodden and oppressed, that 
the soldiers of President Lincoln prevented them 
from expressing their sympathy with the re- 
bellion. In every Southern home and in the 
Rebel army, there was one song more popular 
than all others, entitled ‘“* Maryland.” 


«‘ The despot’s heel is on thy shore, 

Maryland ! 

His touch is at thy temple door, 
Maryland ! 

Avenge the patriotic gore 

That flecked the streets of Baltimore, 

And be the battle queen of yore, 
Maryland! My Maryland! 


Dear mother! burst the tyrant’s chain, 
Maryland ! 

Virginia should not call in vain, 
Maryland! 


184 INVASION OF MARYLAND. 


Lee’s Order to his Troops. Entering the State. 


She meets her sisters on the plain ; 

« Sic semper!” ’tis the fond refrain 

That baffles millions back amain, 
Maryland! My Maryland! 


I hear the distant thunder hum, 
Maryland! 
The Old Line’s bugle, fife, and drum, 
Maryland! 
She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb. 
Huzza! she spurns the Northern scum. ii 
She breathes, — she burns, — she Il come! she’ll come ! 
Maryland! My Maryland!” 


General Lee had no intention of attacking 
Washington. It was his plan to raise the stand- 
ard of revolt in Maryland, bring about a second 
uprising of the people of Baltimore, and trans- 
fer the war to the North. He issued strict 
orders that all private property in Maryland 
should be respected, that everything should be 
paid for. 

On the 5th of September, he crossed the 
Potomac at Noland’s Ford, near Point of Rocks. 
Jackson led the column. When he reached the 
middle of the stream he halted his men, pulled 
off his cap, while the bands struck up ‘“‘ My Mary- 
land,” which was sung by the whole army with 
great enthusiasm.” 

Lee moved towards Frederick, a quiet old 
town, between the mountains and the Monocacy. 


* Life of Stonewall Jackson, p. 197. 


INVASION OF MARYLAND. 185 


Frederick. The People take down their Flags. Barbara Frietchie. 


It was the harvest season. The orchards were 
loaded with fruit; the barns were filled with 
hay ; the granaries with wheat; and there were 
thousands of acres of corn rustling in the au- 
tumn winds. 

At ten o’clock on the morning of the 6th, 
General Stuart’s cavalry entered the city. There 
were some Marylanders in the Rebel army, who 
were warmly welcomed by their friends. <A few 
ladies waved their handkerchiefs, but the major- 
ity of the people of the city had made up their 
minds to stand by the old flag, and manifested 
no demonstrations of joy. Many of them, how- 
ever, took down the stars and stripes, when they 
saw the Rebels advancing; but over one house it 
waved proudly in the morning breeze, as General 
Jackson rode into town. His soldiers dashed 
forward to tear it down. 

What followed has been beautifully told by 
Whittier. 


BARBARA FRIETCHIE. 


“Up from the meadows rich with corn, 
Clear in the cool September morn, 
The clustered spires of Frederick stand, 
Green-walled by the hills of Maryland. 
Round about them orchards sweep, 
Apple and peach-tree fruited deep, 
Fair as the garden of the Lord 
To the eyes of the famished Rebel horde, 
On that pleasant morn of the early fall, 


Ny. 


186 


INVASION OF MARYLAND. 


Barbara Frietchie. 


When Lee marched over the mountain-wall. 
Over the mountain winding down, 

Horse and foot, into Frederick town. 
Forty flags with their silver stars, 

Forty flags with their crimson bars, 
Flapped in the morning wind; the sun 
Of noon looked down and saw not one. 
Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then, } 
Bowed with her four score years and ten ; 
Bravest of all in Frederick town, 

She took up the flag the men hauled down; 
In her attic window the staff she set, 

To show that one heart was loyal yet. 
Up the street came the Rebel tread, 
Stonewall Jackson riding ahead. 

Under his slouched hat left and right 

He glanced, the Old Flag met his sight. 
‘Halt!’ the dust brown ranks stood fast. 
‘Fire!’ out blazed the rifle blast. 

It shivered the window, pane, and sash. 
It rent the banner with seam and gash. 
Quick as it fell from the broken staff, 
Dame Barbara snatched the silken scarf. 
She leaned far out on the window-sill, 
And shook it forth with a royal will. 
‘Shoot, if you must, this old gray head, 
But spare your country’s flag,’ she said. 
A shade of sadness, a blush of shame, 
Over the face of the leader came. 

The nobler nature within him stirred 

To life, at that woman’s deed and word. 
‘Who touches a hair of yon gray head 
Dies like a dog! March on!’ he said. 
All day long through Frederick street 
Sounded the tread of marching feet. 


<< 


il} 


ti 


Mul 
Ui 


‘* She leaned far out on the window-sill, 
And shook it forth with a royal will. 
‘Shoot, if you must, this old gray head, 
But spare your country’s flag,’ she said.” 
Page 186. 


INVASION OF MARYLAND. 187 


What the Soldiers said. 


All day long that free flag tost 

Over the heads of the Rebel host. 

Ever its torn folds rose and fell 

On the loyal winds that loved it well, 
And through the hill-gap sunset light 
Shone over it with a warm good night. 
Barbara Frietchie’s work is o’er ; 

And the Rebel rides on his raids no more. 
Honor to her! And let a tear 

Fall for her sake on Stonewall’s bier. 
Over Barbara Frietchie’s grave, 

Flag of freedom and union wave! 
Peace, and order, and beauty draw 
Round thy symbol of light and law. 
And ever the stars above look down 
On the stars below in Frederick town.” 


General Lee had a plan to execute other than 
the liberation of Maryland, — the invasion of 
Pennsylvania. 

‘‘ We treat the people of Maryland well, for 
they are our brothers, but we intend to make the 
North howl,” one of the officers said. | 

** Lee will cut his way to Philadelphia, and dic- 
tate terms of peace in Independence Square. He 
will stand with torch in hand and demand Mary- 
land, Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri, and 
_ peace, or he will lay that city in ashes,” said 
another. 

But before he could venture on an invasion of 
Pennsylvania he must have an open communica- 
tion with Richmond. There were eleven thou- 


188 INVASION OF MARYLAND. 


Harper’s Ferry. Geographical Features. 


sand men under Colonel Mills at Harper’s Ferry, 
who were strongly fortified. It would not do 
to leave them in his rear. If that place were 
captured he could move north. 

The geographical features of the country were ~ 
favorable to the execution of his plans. 

Ten miles west of Frederick the South Moun- 
tain rises above the surrounding country, dark, 
steep, rocky, and clothed with forests. Its most 
northern spur is near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. 
There are two gaps in the range west of Freder- 
~ick. If Lee could hold these with a portion of 
his force, he could surround Harper’s Ferry, sit- 
uated on the Potomac, where that winding and 
impetuous river leaps through the rocky gorge. 

If successful in capturing it,-he could still 
hold the mountain gates, and pour the great 
bulk of his army north through the rich Cumber- 
land valley. If McClellan was held at bay in his 
efforts to take the passes, and should move north, 
and come down the valley, then, pointing his 
guns in the passes westward upon McClellan, 
Lee could spring like a tiger on Baltimore and 
Washington. ; 

The first thing to be done after resting his 
army was to seize Harper’s Ferry. 

The people of Frederick and the farmers round 
the city had a chance to sell all their goods, — 
their boots, shoes, clothes, flour, bacon, pigs, cat- 


ss a hte wie * 


INVASION OF MARYLAND. 189 


Appearance of the Rebels. Lee’s Address to the People. 


tle, and horses, but they were paid in Confeder- 
ate money, which was worth so many rags. 

Lee’s army was very dirty and filthy. It had 
made hard marches. The men had no tents. 
They had slept on the ground, had lived some 
of the time on green corn and apples, had fought 
battles, had been for weeks exposed to storms, 
sunshine, rain, mud, and dust, with no change 
of clothing.. They had thrown all their strength 
into this one grand invasion of the North, and had 
shown a wonderful vigor. The rest and repose, 
the good living which they found, were very ac- 
ceptable. They obeyed General Lee’s orders, 
and behaved well. 

General Lee issued an address to the people of 
Maryland. | 

‘*The people of the South have seen with pro- 
found indignation their sister State deprived of 
every right and reduced to the condition of a 
conquered province. 

‘“‘ Believing that the people of Maryland pos- 
sessed a spirit too lofty to submit to such a gov- 
ernment, the people of the South have long 
wished to aid you in throwing off this foreign 
yoke, to enable you again to enjoy the inalien- 
able rights of freemen,” read the address. 

But the people were not conscious of living 
under a foreign yoke, neither that they were a 
conquered province, and therefore did not re- 


190 INVASION OF MARYLAND. 


Lee’s Plan. His Orders. Joy of the People of Frederick. 


spond to the call to rise in rebellion against the 
old flag. 

It was time for Lee to proceed to the execution 
of his plans. The Army of the Potomac was ap- 
proaching Frederick. Lee directed Jackson to 
move on the 10th of September directly west, 
cross South Mountain at Boonsboro’ Gap, move 
through the town of Sharpsburg, cross the Poto- 
mac, and fall upon Martinsburg, where Colonel 
White, with a brigade of Union troops, was 
guarding a large amount of stores. General 
McLaw’s and Anderson’s divisions were to oc- 
cupy Maryland Heights — the termination of the 
South Mountain range in Maryland — while Gen- 
eral Walker was sent across the river into Vir- 
ginia to occupy Loudon Heights. Thus approach- 
ing from the north, east, south, and west, Colonel 
Miles would. have no chance to escape. Long- 
street was to move to Hagerstown to be ready 
for a sudden spring into Pennsylvania. Howell 
Cobb was to hold Crampton’s Pass, and D. H. 
Hill the Boonsboro’ Gap. 


‘‘ The commands of General Jackson, McLaw, | 


and Walker, after having accomplished the ob- 
jects for which.they have been detached, will join 
the main body of the army at Boonsboro’ or Ha- 
gerstown,’ read the order. 

On the 11th, the last regiment of Rebels de- 
parted from Frederick, and soon after the ad- 


INVASION OF MARYLAND. sees 8) 
Advance of the Union Army. South Mountain. 


vance of the Army of the Potomac entered the 
place. The inhabitants shouted, waved their 
flags once more, and hailed McClellan as their 
deliverer. 


BATTLE OF SOUTH MOUNTAIN. 


Early in the forenoon of Sunday, the 14th of 
September, General Burnside, leading the Union 
army, ascended a high hill, a few miles west of 
Frederick, and looked down upon one of the 
loveliest valleys in the world. At his feet 
was the village of Middletown ; beyond it, in the 
bottom of the valley, the Catoctin Creek winds 
through ever verdant meadows, past old man- 
sions, surrounded with well-filled barns. North 
and south, far as the eye can reach, are 
wheat and clover fields, and acres of corn put- 
ting on its russet hues. Beyond the creek, the 
road winds along the mountain side, past the lit- 
tle hamlet called Bolivar. There are ledges, 
loose stones, groves of oak, and thickets of moun- 
tain shrubs. ‘There is a house on the summit, — 
once a tavern, where the teamsters and stagemen 
of former days watered their tired horses, and 
drank their ale, and ate a lunch: It is old and 
dilapidated now. But standing there and look- 
ing east, it seems as if a strong armed man might 
cast a stone upon Middletown, hundreds of feet 
below. Twelve miles away to the east are the 


192 INVASION OF MARYLAND. 


View from the Mountain. D. H. Hill. He hates the Yankees. 


spires of Frederick, gleaming in the sun. West- 
ward from this mountain gate we may behold at 
our feet Boonsboro’ and Keedysville, and the 
crooked Antietam; and still farther westward, 
the Potomac, making its great northern sweep to 
Williamsport. In the northwest, twelve miles 
distant, is Hagerstown, at the head of the Cum- 
berland valley. Longstreet is there on this Sun- 
day morning, sending his cavalry up to the 
Pennsylvania lines, gathering cattle, horses, and 
pigs. : 

General D. H. Hill beholds the Union arm 
spread out upon the plains before him, reaching 
all the way to Frederick city, — dark-blue masses 
moving towards him along the road, through the 
fields, with banners waving, their bright arms 
reflecting the morning sunshine. 

He is confident that he can hold the place, — 
so narrow, the mountain sides so steep, and 
one Southerner equal to five Yankees. He 
hates the men of the North. He is a native 
of South Carolina, and was educated by the 
government at West Point. He was teacher of 
the North Carolina Military School. Before the 
war, he did what he could to stir up the people 
of the South to rebel. He told them that the 
South won nearly all the battles of the Revolu- 
tion, but that the Northern historians had given 
the credit to the North, which was a “ Yankee 


INVASION OF MARYLAND. 198 
His Algebra. 


trick.” He published an Algebra in 1857, which 
Stonewall Jackson pronounced superior to all 
others, in which his inveterate hatred appears. 
His problems are expressive of hatred and con-. 
tempt. 

“A Yankee,’ he states, ‘“‘ mixes a certain 
number of wooden nutmegs, which cost him one 
fourth of a cent apiece, with real nutmegs worth 
four cents apiece, and sells the whole assortment 
for $44, and gains $3.75 by the fraud. How 
many wooden nutmegs are there ? ”’ 

*¢ At the Woman’s Rights Convention, held at 
Syracuse, New York, composed of one hundred 
and fifty delegates, the old maids, childless wives, 
and bedlamites were to each other as the num- 
bers 5, 7, and 8. How many were there of each 
class ?”’ 

“The field of Buena Vista is six and a half 
miles from Saltillo. Two Indiana volunteers ran 
away from the field of battle at the same time ; 
one ran half a mile per hour faster than the 
other, and reached Saltillo five minutes and fifty- 
four and six elevenths seconds sooner than 
the other. Required their respective rates of 
travel.” * 

On this bright morning, the men of the Nine- 
teenth Indiana, troops from Ohio, Wisconsin, 
Michigan, Maine,— from nearly all the loyal 

* The Church and the Rebellion, p. 196. 
9 M 


194 INVASION OF MARYLAND. 


The Line of Attack. The Artillery. Scammon’s Brigade. 


States, are preparing to climb the mountain 
to meet the man who has violated his oath, and 
who hates the government that gave him an 
education. 

The line of battle is formed by General Burh- 
side along the Catoctin Creek. The Ninth corps, 
with General Cox’s division in advance, is thrown 
south of the turnpike, and directed to move 
along a narrow road which unites with the turn- 
pike in the gap. : 

It is seven o’clock in the morning when Scam- 
mon’s brigade of Ohio troops moves into position. 
Robertson’s battery is south of the turnpike in a 
field, throwing shells up the mountain into the 
woods where Hill’s men are lying sheltered from 
sight by the foliage. 

There is a reply from the gap. Solid shot 
and shells fly from the mountain to the valley. 
Hayne’s battery joms with Robertson’s, Simmons — 
opens with his twenty-pounders, and McMullin 
with four heavy guns, and while church-bells far 
away are tolling the hour of worship, these cannon 
in the valley and on the mountain side wake the 
slumbering echoes, and play the prelude to the 
approaching strife. 

Scammon’s brigade leads the way by the old 
Sharpsburg road, the men toiling slowly up the 
hill,— through the fields and pastures, over 
fences and walls, sometimes losing foothold, and 
falling headlong, or sliding downward. 


INVASION OF MARYLAND. 195 


The Twelfth Ohio. The Cheers. 


The brigade was preceded by a line of skir- 
mishers, and was followed by Crook’s brigade. 

The woods were fuil of Rebels, but the men 
moved on, driving back Hill’s skirmishers, work- 
ing up step by step, pushing them and the line sup- 
porting them toward the gap. A battery opened 
with canister, but the shot flew wild and high 
over their heads, and they pressed on. McMul- 
lin sent up two guns, but the gunners were 
picked off by the Rebel sharpshooters. The 
Twelfth Ohio charged up the hill, through a pas- 
ture, with a hurrah. Louder, deeper, longer 
was the cheer which rose from the valley far 
below, where Sturgis, and Wilcox, and Rod- 
man were forming into line. On,—into the 
fire,— closé up to the stonewall, where the 
Rebels were lying, — they charged, routing them 
from their shelter, and holding the ground. 
There were places on the hillside, where the 
ereen grass became crimson, — where brave men 
had stood a moment before full of life and vigor 
and devotion to their country, but motionless and 
silent now,—their part in the great struggle 
faithfully performed, their work done. 

Hill rallied his men. They dashed down the 
mountain to regain the ground. But having ob- 
tained it through costly sacrifice, the men from 
Ohio were not willing to yield it. 

There was a lull in the battle at noon. Hill, . 


196 INVASION OF MARYLAND. 


Hill sends for Longstreet. Hooker’s Corps. Hooker ascends the Mountain. 


finding that the chances were against him, sent to 
Hagerstown for Longstreet. 

Burnside, on the other hand, waited for Hook- 
er to arrive, who was next in the column. He 
commanded the First corps, composed of Ricketts’s 
and King’s divisions, and the Pennsylvania Re- 
serves. He filed north of the turnpike, threw 
Ricketts’s upon the extreme right, with the Re- 
serves in the centre, and King on the left. King 
was on the turnpike. There is a deep gorge 
between the turnpike and the old road south of 
it, which made a gap between Reno and Hooker. 

The afternoon wore away before the troops 
were ready. lLongstreet’s men were panting up 
the mountain on the western side, Hood’s divi- 
sion in advance. They were thrown upon the 
hillside south of the old tavern in the gap. It 
was past four o’clock when the order to advance 
was given. Wilcox’s division led upon the ex- 
treme left. 

It is a movement which will be decisive, for 
victory or defeat. The artillery —all the bat- 
teries which can be brought into position — send 
their shells up the mountain. Steadily onward 
moves the long line across the fields at the foot, 
up the pasture lands of the slope into the woods. 

There is a rattling of musketry, — then heavy 
rolls, peal on peal, wave on wave, and a steady, 
constant roar; giving not an inch, but advancing 


INVASION OF MARYLAND. 197 
The Battle Scene. The Troops on the Plain. Colonel Meredith. 


slowly, or holding their ground, the veterans of 
the Peninsula continue their fire. The moun- 
tain is white with the rising battle-cloud. The 
line of fire goes up the mountain. The Rebels 
are falling back, fighting bravely, but yielding. 
There are shouts, yells, outcries, mingling with 
the thunder of the artillery, echoing and rever- 
berating along the valleys. 

Right and left and centre are pushing on. 
Thousands on the plains below behold it, and 
wish that they were there to aid their brothers in 
arms. ‘The day wanes, the shadows begin to 
deepen, revealing the flashes from cannon and 
musket. There is no giving back of Burnside’s 
men, neither of Hooker’s, but nearer to the 
crest, nearer the clouds, moves the starry ban- 
ner. 

*¢ Please open upon that house with your bat- 
tery,’ was the order of Colonel Meredith, of 
the Nineteenth Indiana, commanding a brigade 
in King’s division, to Lieutenant Stewart of the 
Fourth United States Artillery. The house was 
filled with sharpshooters. Lieutenant Stewart 
sights’ his guns. ‘The second shell crashes 
through the side as if it were paper, tears 
through the rooms. The Rebels swarm out 
from doors and windows in hasty flight. The 
men from Indiana give a lusty cheer, and move 
nearer the enemy. 


198 INVASION OF MARYLAND. 


The last Charge. The Attack on Harper’s Ferry. 


In vain the efforts of Hill and Longstreet and 
Hood to stop the fiery tide, rising higher, rolling 
nearer, overflowing the mountain, threatening to 
sweep them into the western valley. The lines 
surge on. It is like the sweep of a great tidal 
wave. There is a rush, a short, desperate, decis- 
ive struggle. The Rebel line gives way. The 
men from Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, New York, 
Pennsylvania, Maine, and Massachusetts, pour 
into the gap, shouting their victorious hurrahs. 

General Hill has lost the battle. He has de- 
spised those men. He tried to injure their fair 
fame before the world in time of peace ; he inti- 
mated that Northern men were arrant cowards; 
but after this battle at South Mountain he can 
issue an Algebra with a new statement of the 
wooden nutmeg and Buena Vista problems. 


SURRENDER OF HARPER’S FERRY. 


Lee was successful in what he had undertaken 
at Harper’s Ferry. While Burnside was winning 
this victory, Colonel Miles was yielding that im- 
portant post. He abandoned the strong position 
on Maryland Heights, tumbled the cannon down 
the mountain, when he might have kept McLaw 
and Anderson from gaining possession of the 
place. Jackson kept up a furious bombardment. 
Miles hung out the white flag, and was killed 
immediately after by a shell. 


INVASION OF MARYLAND. 199 


The Surrender. Longstreet’s Ammunition. 


His troops were indignant at the surrender. 
Some shed tears. 

‘“We have no country now,” said one officer, 
wiping the tears from his face. If Miles had 
held out a little longer, he would have been 
relieved, for Franklin was driving General Cobb 
from Crampton’s Pass, and would have been 
upon the rear of McLaw and Anderson. 

The cavalry made their escape under cover of 
the night. They followed winding forest-paths 
through the woods, at dead of night, avoiding 
the roads till they were north of Sharpsburg. 
While crossing the Williamsport and Hagers- 
town road they came upon Longstreet’s ammuni- 
tion train. 

“ Hold!” said the officer commanding the 
cavalry to the forward driver, ‘‘ you are on the 
wrong road. That is the way.” 

The driver turned towards the north as di- 
rected, not knowing that the officer was a Yan- 
kee. 

‘¢ Hold on there! you are on the wrong road. 
Who told you to turn off here, I should like to 
know ?”’ shouted the Rebel officer in charge of 
the train, dashing up on his horse. 

‘J gave the order, sir.” 

“ Who are you, and what right have you to 
interfere with my train, sir,’’ said the officer, 
coming up in the darkness. 


’ 


200 INVASION OF MARYLAND. 


A Yankee Trick. John Brown’s Accomplice. The Northern Traitor. 


‘“‘T am colonel of the Eighth New York cav- 
alry, and you are my prisoner,” said the Union 
officer, presenting his pistol. 

The Rebel officer was astounded. He swore 
bad words, and said it was a mean Yankee 
trick. 

One hundred wagons and seventy-four men 
were thus quietly cut out from the Rebel trains. 

I saw the prisoners as they entered Chambers- 
burg, Pennsylvania. There were several negroes 
among them. . 

‘¢ As soon as I heard dat we was in de hands 
of de Yankees, I was mighty glad, sir, ’cause we 
darkees want to get to de Norf,’”’ he said. 

** Why do you want to get to the North?” 

‘“‘*Cause we be free up here. We don’t get 
much to eat in the Souf,”’ he said. 

At the head of this company of prisoners 
marched a man with downcast eyes, sunburned, 
dusty, dressed in gray, with a black feather in 
his hat. His name was Fitz Hugh Miller. He 
was a Pennsylvanian. It was he who arrested 
Cook, one of John Brown’s accomplices, and 
delivered him over to Governor Wise. Cook was 
tried, found guilty, and hung. When the war 
broke out, Miller went South, and was a captain 
in Lee’s army. The people of Chambersburg 
knew him. He was a traitor. 

“Hang him!” they shouted. “A rope!” 


INVASION OF MARYLAND. 201 


The Gates open. Lee’s Resolve. Pennsylvania aroused. 


“ Get a rope!’’ There was a rush of men and 
women towards him. They were greatly excited. 
Some picked up stones to hurl at him, some 
shook their fists in his face, but the guards closed 
round him, and hurried the pale and trembling 
wretch off to prison as quickly as possible, and 
saved him from a violent death. 

General Lee had been successful in taking 
Harper’s Ferry, but he was not in position to 
spring upon the North. The eastern gates were 
wide open. Burnside had pushed D. H. Hill and 
Longstreet down the Mountain, and the whole 
Yankee army which he intended to keep out of © 
the Antietam and Cumberland valleys was pour- 
ing upon him. He had been successful in most 
of his battles. He had driven McClellan from 
Richmond to the gunboats, had defeated Pope at 
Groveton, had taken eleven thousand prisoners 
and immense supplies at Harper’s Ferry. All 
that he had to do now was to defeat the new 
Army of the Potomac in a great pitched battle ; 
then he could move on to Philadelphia and 
dictate terms of peace. 

He resolved to concentrate his army, choose 
his ground, and give battle to McClellan. He 
must do that before he could move on. The 
advance of the Rebel army towards Pennsyl- 
vania roused the citizens of that Commonwealth 


to take active measures for its defence. 
9 * 


202 INVASION OF MARYLAND. 


How the People became Soldiers. 


There were glorious exhibitions of pure patri- 
otism. Governor Curtin called upon the people 
to organize at once ; and fifty thousand men has- 
tened to the various places of rendezvous. The 
old Revolutionary flame was rekindled. Disaster 
had not dispirited the people. The ministers from 
their pulpits urged their congregations to go, and 
themselves set the example. Judges, members 
of Congress, presidents of colleges, and professors 
took place in the ranks, and became soldiers. In 
every town the pulses of the people beat to the 
exigencies of the hour. Telegrams and letters 
poured in upon the Governor. “ We are ready,” 
‘“¢ We shall march to-morrow,” “‘ Give us guns,” 
they said. 

Mothers, wives, and daughters said, “ Go!” 

There were tearful eyes and swelling bosoms, 
but brave hearts. Old men, gray-haired, weak, 
weary with the weight of years, encouraged the 
young and strong, and bestowed their blessings 
on those departing for the battle-field. 


CHAPTER XII. 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


General McClellan’s Army. The First and Second Corps. 


HE army had been re-organized. It was not 
altogether the same army which had fought 
the battles of the Peninsula. The First corps, 
under the command of General Hooker, contained 
Doubleday’s, Meade’s, and Ricketts’s divisions. 
Doubleday’s troops were formerly under Mc- 
Dowell. They had been under fire at Cedar 
Mountain, and held the left at Groveton. 
Meade commanded the Pennsylvania Reserves. 
McCall, their first commander, was a prisoner. 
Reynolds, who succeded to the command, was 
in Pennsylvania organizing the militia. The Re- 
serves had been in many of the battles, — Dranes- 
ville, Mechanicsville, Gaines’s Mills, Glendale, 
Malvern, Groveton, and South Mountain. 
Ricketts’s troops were of McDowell’s corps, 
formerly King’s division. They too had been in 
the hottest of the fight at Groveton. 
The Second corps was still in the hands of the 
veteran Sumner. Sedgwick, Richardson, and 
French were his division commanders. 


204 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. . 


The Second Corps. . The Sixth Corps. 


Sedgwick and Richardson had been through 
the Peninsular campaign. They came up at Fair 
Oaks in a critical moment, and decided the day 
in that hard-fought battle. They had stood mo- 
tionless through the long summer day at Savage 
Station, —a wall of adamant against Stonewall 
Jackson and Magruder. Richardson held the 
bridge at White-oak Swamp, while Sedgwick. 
with Hooker repulsed A. P. Hill at Glendale. 
French’s troops had been under General Wool at 
Fortress Monroe and Norfolk. They had seen 
skirmishes, but had never been engaged in a 
great battle. French had one brigade of new 
troops, fresh from the home barracks, inexpe- 
rienced in drill and discipline, and unacquainted 
with the indescribable realities of a great battle. 
It was a powerful corps. 

The Sixth corps was commanded by Franklin, 
and was composed of Smith’s and Slocum’s 
divisions, old soldiers of the Peninsula. A por- 
tion of them were engaged in the battle of 
Williamsburg. Smith’s division was in the fight 
at Fair Oaks; and Slocum crossed to the north 
bank of the Chickahominy, in season to save Fitz 
John Porter from annihilation in-the battle of 
Gaines’s Mills. They held the rear at White-oak 
Swamp, and had borne their share in the battle 
of Malvern. 

The Fifth corps was commanded by Porter, 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 205 


The Fifth and Ninth Corps. j The Twelfth Corps. 


— —____ 


and was composed of Sykes’s division of Regulars 
and Morell’s division; the same which had fought 
gloriously at Gaines’s Mills, and Malvern, and 
reluctantly at Groveton. 

The Ninth corps was commanded by Burnside. 
He had four divisions, — Wilcox’s, Sturgis’s, 
Rodman’s, and Cox’s. 

Sturgis’s and Rodman’s troops were Burnside’s 
own, which had a good record at Roanoke and 
Newbern. Wilcox’s were of Sherman’s army 
from Port Royal, and had seen some of the hard- 
ships of campaigning. They had been hurried 
up from the South, when it was discovered that 
Lee contemplated an invasion of the North. The 
Thirty-fifth Massachusetts in this corps had been 
but a few days in the service. How well they 
fought, we shall see hereafter. 

The troops commanded by General Cox were 
of the Kanawha division, — Western Virginia 
and Ohio soldiers, who had seen service among 
the mountains. 

The Twelfth corps, which had fought at Win- 
chester and Cedar Mountain under Banks, was 
now commanded by General Mansfield. It con- 
tained but two divisions, Williams’s and Greene’s. 

Couch commanded an independent division, 
the troops which had stemmed the tide at Seven 
Pines. 

These corps composed the Army of the Po- 


206 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


The Grand Divisions. Lee’s Army. The Ground. 


tomac, which was organized into three grand 
divisions. 

Burnside commanded the right wing, having 
his own, — the Ninth and First corps. General 
Cox commanded the Ninth after the death of 
Reno at South Mountain, and the appointment 
ef Burnside to the command of the grand division. 

The centre was under the command of Sum- 
ner, and was composed of the Second and 
Twelfth corps,—his own and Mansfield’s. 

The left wing was commanded by Franklin, 
and was composed of the Fifth and Sixth corps. 

General Lee’s army was composed of the com- 
mands of Jackson, Longstreet, D. H. Hill, Mc- 
Law, and Walker. 

An estimate of his forces in the battle of An- 
tietam, obtained from prisoners, deserters, and 
spies, is ninety-seven thousand. 

“It was fought for half a day with ae five 
thousand men on the Confederate side, and for 
the remaining half with no more than an agere- 
gate of seventy thousand,” * writes a Southern 
historian, who estimates McClellan’s force at a 
hundred and thirty thousand. 

The ground which General Lee selected for a 
decisive trial of the strength of the two armies is 
near the village of Sharpsburg, between the An- 
tietam and Potomac Rivers. It is a quiet little 


* Pollard, Vol. II. p. 137. 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. _. 207 


Sharpsburg. The Antietam. Elk Ridge. 


village at the junction of the Hagerstown turn- 
pike, with the pike leading from Boonesboro’ to 
Shepardstown. Hagerstown is twelve miles dis- 
tant, due north; Shepardstown, three and a half 
miles, a little south of west, on the Potomac. 

In former years, it was a lively place. There 
were always country teams and market wagons 
rumbling through the town, but now the inn- 
keepers have few travellers to eat their bacon 
and eggs. The villagers meet at nightfall at the 
hotel, smoke their pipes, drink a glass of the 
landlord’s ale, and tell the story of the great 
battle. 

The Antietam is a rapid, crooked mill-stream. 
It rises north of Hagerstown, on the borders of 
Pennsylvania, runs toward the south, and emp- 
ties into the Potomac, three miles south of Sharps- 
burg. Its banks are steep. In some places there 
are limestone ledges cropping out. At low water, 
it is fordable in many places, but when the clouds 
hang low upon the mountains and give out their 
showers, it roars, foams, tumbles like a cataract. 

Three miles northwest of the town, the Po- 
tomac makes a great bend to the east, comes 
within a half mile of the Hagerstown pike, then 
bears south toward Shepardstown. 

Across the Antietam, three miles from Sharps- 
burg, to the southeast, is the northern end of Elk 
Ridge, — a mountain running south to Harper’s 


208 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


Position not easily flanked. 


Ferry, forming the west wall of Pleasant Val- 
ley. 

The Antietam, below the Boonesboro’ road, 
runs along the western base of the ridge. It 
is not more than four miles from the Antie- 
tam, opposite the head of the ridge, to the great 
bend in the Potomac, northwest of Sharps- 
burg. General Lee selected this narrow gate for 
his line of battle. It had many advantages. It 
was a short line. It could not be flanked. It 
was on commanding ground. General McClellan 
must attack in front. He must cross the Antie- 
tam, ascend the steep bank, over ground swept 
by hundreds of guns, and face a direct as well as 
a flanking fire. McClellan could not turn the 
right flank of the Rebels, because there the An- 
tietam runs close to the base of Elk Ridge, then 
turns due west, and empties into the Potomac. 
He could not turn the left flank, for there the 
Rebel army leaned upon the Potomac. 


POSITIONS OF THE Two ARMIES. 


The diagram represents the general positions of the divisions as 
they came upon the field. 


1 Hooker’s corps. A Jackson. 

2 Mansfield’s corps. Bee ee Ha 

3 Sedgwick’s Biy Bs; Sumner’s corps. C Longstreet. 

4 French’s OTS Dor Weed 20 8 BIE he 

5 Richardson’s ‘ x “« E Lee’s head-quarters. 


6 Franklin’s corps. 

7 Porter’s corps. 

8 Burnside’s corps. 

9 McClellan’s head-quarters. 


The dotted line passing through Jackson’s position is a narrow 
farm road, along which Jackson erected his defensive works. 


209 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


The Battle-Field of Antietam. 


910 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


Rebel Breastworks. ‘ The Bridges. Hoffman’s Farm. 


Besides these protections to the flank, the line 
itself was very strong. There were hills, hollows, 
ravines, groves, ledges, fences, cornfields, or- 
chards, stone-walls, — all of which are important 
in a great battle. Besides all of those natural de- 
fences, General Lee threw up breastworks and 
rifle-pits to make his line as strong as possible. 
His line was on the ridge, between the Antietam 
and the Potomac. 

There are three stone bridges across the Antie- 
tam near where the battle was fought. One of 
them will be known in history as the Burnside 
Bridge, for there the troops commanded by Gen- 
eral Burnside forced back the Rebel right-wing, 
and crossed the stream. It is on the road which 
leads from Sharpsburg to the little village of Ro- 
herville in Pleasant Valley. 

A mile north, there is another at the crossing 
of the Boonesboro’ and Sharpsburg turnpike. A 
half mile above, on the eastern bank, there is a 
large brick farm-house, where General McClellan 
had his head-quarters during the battle. Follow- 
ing the windings of the stream, we reach the up- 
per bridge, on the road from Keedysville to Ha- 
gerstown. On the western bank are the farms 
of John Hoffman and D. Miller. There is a little 
cluster of houses called Smoketown. 

Travelling directly west from Hoffiman’s one 
mile across the fields, we reach the Sharpsburg 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. ak 


Poffenberger’s. Miller’s House. 


and Hagerstown pike, near the residence of Mr. 
Middlekauff. A quarter of a mile farther would 
carry us to the great bend of the Potomac. But 
turning south, and travelling the turnpike, we 
reach the farm-house of Mr. John Poffenberger,* 
a wooden building standing with its gable towards ° 
the turnpike. There are peach-trees in front, and 
a workshop, and a bee-bench. 

There is a high ridge behind the house, 
crowned by Poffenberger’s barn. Standing ‘up- 
on the ridge and looking west, we behold the 
turnpike at our feet, a mown field beyond, and 
fifty or sixty rods distant a cornfield, and a 
grove of oaks. That cornfield and those oaks is 
the ground occupied by Jackson’s left wing. 

A. few rods south of Poffenberger’s is the toll- 
gate. There a narrow lane runs west towards 
the Potomac. Another leads southwest, past an 
old house and barn, winding through the woods, 
and over the uneven ground where Jackson es- 
tablished his centre. There is a grove of oaks 
between the toll-gate and the farm-house of Mr. 
J. Miller, a few rods further south. Mr. Miller 
had a large field in corn on the hillside east of 


* Upon the map accompanying General McClellan’s Report 
there are several residences marked Poffenberger; also several 
marked D. Miller. But the residence here described was the 
one around which the severest fighting occurred on the right, — 
Joseph Poffenberger’s. 


RLY _ BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


Dunker Church. Place where Hill and Jackson joined. 


his house at the time of the battle. Standing 
there upon the crest and looking east, we have a 
full view of the farm of John Hoffman. Here 
and on the ridge behind Poffenberger’s, Jackson 
established his advanced line one half of a mile 
from his main line, west of the turnpike. 

The cornfield was bordered on the east by a 
narrow strip of woodland, on the south by a 
newly mown field extending to the turnpike. 

Walking across the smooth field to the turn- 
pike again, we behold a small one-story brick 
building on the west side of the road, with an 
oak grove behind it. It has no tower or spire, 
but it is known as the Dunker Church. A road 
joins the turnpike in front of the church, coming 
in from the northeast from Hoffman’s farm and 
the upper bridge across the Antietam. 

This building is on elevated ground. It was 
the pivot on which the fortunes of the day swung 
to and fro, where hinged the destiny of the na- 
tion. ‘There Jackson’s right wing joined D. H. 
Hill’s division. There, around the church, fifty 
thousand men met in deadly strife. | 

The land slopes towards the east. Rivulets. 
spring from the hillside, and flow towards the 
Antietam. Seventy or eighty rods east of the 
church is the residence of Mr. Muma. There is 
a graveyard north of his dwelling, white head- 
stones marking the burial-place. There is a 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 213 


Rulet’s Farm. The Views from the Church. 


farm-road leading past his house to Mr. Rulet’s 
beyond. It winds along the hillside into the 
ravine by Mr. Rulet’s. There are branch roads ; 
one leading to Sharpsburg, one down the hill to 
the middle bridge across the Antietam. The 
farms of Mr. Muma, Mr. Rulet, and Dr. Piper 
are broken lands, hills, ravines, corn and wheat 
fields, orchards, pastures, and mowing-grounds. 
D. H. Hill occupied the high grounds on Mr. 
Muma’s farm; Longstreet held Rulet’s, Dr. Pi- 
per’s, Sharpsburg, and the hills south of the town. 

Standing by the church and looking north, we 
see Poffenberger’s house, three fourths of a mile 
distant; northeast we see Hoffman’s farm, a mile 
and a half distant. Looking directly east over 
the house of Mr. Rulet, we behold the Antietam, 
one mile distant, with General McClellan’s head- 
quarters on the hill beyond. 

Southeast, a mile and a quarter distant, is the 
middle bridge on the Boonesboro’ pike. Directly 
south, along the Hagerstown turnpike, is Sharps- 
burg. lLee’s head-quarters are in a field west of 
the town. Two miles distant, at the base of Elk 
Ridge, is the lower bridge. There the banks of 
the river are high, sharp, and steep. Behind the 
church are limestone ledges; in the woods, 
strong natural defences. | 

These are the main features of the field : — 

Hoffman’s farm. 


214 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


, The Main Features. The Advance of the Army to the Antietam. 


Poffenberger’s house, the ridge behind it, the 
woods, and cornfields west of it. 

Miller’s house, the cornfield east, the mown 
field south, the turnpike and the woods west. 

The church, the field in front, the woods be- 
hind it. 

Muma’s farm, Rulet’s house,’ the orchard 
around it, the farm-road, and cornfield west of it. 

The lower bridge, and the hills on both sides 
of the stream. 

At daylight on Monday morning, after the bat- 
tle at South Mountain, General Richardson’s divis- 
ion of the Second Corps moved down the moun- 
tain side through Boonesboro’ to Keedysville. It 
was found that General Lee was massing his 
troops. on the west bank of the Antietam, and 
planting his batteries on the hills north of Sharps- 
burg. General Richardson deployed his troops. 
Captain Tidball and Captain Pettit ran their bat- 
teries up on the hills near Porterstown, and com- 
menced a cannonade which lasted till night. 

General Hooker’s, General Mansfield’s, Gener- 
al Burnside’s, General Sumner’s, and General 
Porter’s troops arrived during the night. 

On the morning of Tuesday, the 16th, General 
McClellan reconnoitred the position which Lee 
had chosen. ‘The forenoon passed before the 
corps were in position to make an attack. 

General McClellan’s plan was to attack the en- 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 215 


Gen. McClellan’s Plan. Hooker crosses the Antietam. 


emy’s left with Hooker’s and Mansfield’s corps, 
supported by Sumner’s; and, as soon as matters 
looked favorably there, to move Burnside across the 
lower bridge, and attack Lee’s right, south of 
Sharpsburg. If either of these flank movements 
were successful, then he would move upon the 
centre with all the forces at his disposal. 

About two o’clock in the afternoon, Hooker 
crossed the Antietam by the upper bridge and by 
the ford near Pray’s Mill. The Rebel pickets 
were in the cornfields on Mr. Hoffman’s farm, and 
their first line in the strip of woods east of Mil- 
ler’s cornfield. The Pennsylvania Reserves were 
in advance. There was a sharp skirmish and a 
brisk cannonade which lasted till dark. The Reb- 
els were forced back. They retreated almost to 
Poffenberger’s house. General Hooker advanced, 
planted his guns on the hill near Hoffman’s, and 
threw out his pickets. His men lay down to 
sleep in the fields and amid the rustling corn. 

Mansfield crossed during the night. He went 
up from the stream but a short distance, halting 
nearly a mile in rear of Hooker. Sumner’s corps 
remained east of the stream, near Pray’s Mill. 
Porter was posted on the east side near General 
McClellan’s head-quarters, while Burnside passed 
down through Porterstown and came into posi- 
tion on the farm of Mr. Rohrback at the base of 
Elk Ridge, near the lower bridge. 


216 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


Lee’s Troops. Lee’s Line. Lee’s Head-quarters. 


An auspicious hour had passed by never to re- 
turn. Lee had only Longstreet, D. H. Hill, and 
two divisions of Jackson’s corps on the ground 
on Tuesday, the 16th. Jackson arrived on the 
morning of the 16th, after a hard night-march 
from Harper’s Ferry. His troops were exhaust- 
ed. They were not in condition to fight on Tues- 
day; but by the delay of General McClellan they 
obtained rest and strength. McLaw’s Ander- 
son’s, Walker’s, and A. P. Hill’s divisions had 
not arrived even when the great contest began on 
the 17th.* 

A portion of Lee’s line on the morning of that 
day was weak and thin. Longstreet held the 
right, opposite Burnside ; D. H. Hill was on Ru- 
let’s farm, Hood was at the Dunker Church, and 
Jackson northwest of it,in front of Poffenberger’s 
house. Hood’s men were exhausted ; they had 
marched rapidly to reach the field, and had been 
sent to the front upon their arrival, to keep 
Hooker in check, as he moved through Hoffman’s 
cornfields on the afternoon of the 16th. Lawton, 
commanding Ewell’s old division in Jackson’s 
corps, relieved him during the night. At day- 
break the ** Ragged Texans,’’ as Hood’s men were 
called by their comrades, were cooking their 
cakes and frying their pork in the fields south of 
the church. Lee’s head-quarters were on a hill 


~ 


* Pollard, Vol. II, p. 125. 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. OTF 


The Morning of the 17th. Hooker’s Attack. 


beyond Sharpsburg, so high that he could over- 
look a large portion of the field. He saw that 
McClellan intended to turn his left, and threw all 
his available troops towards the Dunker Church. 

On the morning of the 17th a breeze from the 
south swept up the valley, rolling dark clouds 
upon the mountains. There was a light fog upon 
the Antietam. Long before daylight the word, 
which roused the men from sleep, passed along 
the lines of Hooker’s divisions. Without a 
drumbeat or bugle-call the soldiers rose, shook 
the dewdrops from their locks, rolled their blank- 
ets, and ate their breakfast. 

The pickets of the two armies were so near 
each other that each could hear the rustle of the 
corn as they paced to and fro amid the rows. 
Occasionally there was a-shot. Once, in the 
night, there was a volley beyond the woods 
towards Muma’s. General Hooker was asleep in 
a barn near Hoffman’s. He sprang to his feet, 
stood by, the door, and listened. ‘* We have no 
troops in that direction. They are shooting at 
nothing,” he said, and lay down once more. 


HOOKER’S ATTACK. 

Five o’clock. It is hardly daylight, as the 
pickets, straining their sight, bringing their 
muskets to a level with their eyes, aim at the 
dusky forms stirring amid the corn-leaves, and 

10 


218 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


cn ee ta: Sa as Sd 5 en 
The first Shell. Meade’s Division. The heavy Batteries. 


renew the contest. There are bright flashes from 
the strip of woods, and from the ridge behind 
Poffenberger’s. The first Rebel shell bursts in 
the Sixth Wisconsin, prostrating eight men. 
Hooker’s guns, in the edge of the woods west 
of Hoffman’s, are quick to respond. 

Meade’s division, composed of Seymour’s, 
Magilton’s, and Anderson’s brigades, was in the 
centre of Hooker’s corps, and also in the ad- 
vance. Doubleday was on the right, and Rick- 
etts behind Meade. 

The order was given to Meade to move on, and 
to Ricketts and Doubleday to keep within close 
supporting distance. The direction taken by 
Meade brought him through the strip of woods . 
northeast of Miller’s house. Lawton’s division 
of Jackson’s corps held the ground by Miller’s 
house, with Ripley, of D. H. Hill’s division, join- 
ing on the narrow road north of Muma’s, a 
quarter of a mile in front of the church. 

At this early hour, before any movement was 
made, Tuft, Langner, Von Kleizer, Weaver, 
Weed, and Benjamin, with twenty-pounder Par- 
rott guns, planted on the hills east of the Antie- 
tam, between the centre and lower bridges, 
opened upon Lee’s lines, throwing shells and 
solid shot into Sharpsburg, and upon D. H. Hill 
on Rulet’s farm. “It enfiladed my line, and 
was a damaging fire,’’ * says Stonewall Jackson, 

*. Jackson’s Report, Southern History, Vol. II. p. 132. 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 219 


Meade’s Advance. Hooker on the Field Ricketts’s Division. 


who brought up.his batteries of heavy guns, — 
Prague’s, Carpenter’s, Raine’s, Brokenbrough’s, 
Caskie’s, and Wooding’s batteries. 

Meade’s men went cheerily to the work. They 
began at long range to give their volleys; they 
were in the hollow, northeast of Miller’s. Law- 
ton’s troops looked down upon them from their 
shelter beneath the trees and behind the hills. 

The Reserves began to drop beneath the gall- 
ing fire. Hooker rode up to them upon a pow- 
erful white horse. The bullets flew past him, 
cutting down the corn, and bursting shells sprin- 
kled him with earth; but he was calm amid it 
all, directing the troops and holding them up to 
the work by his mighty will. 

Nearer to the woods now, shorter the range, 
more deadly the fire. Ricketts came up on the 
left with Duryea’s and Christian’s brigades. 

There were heavier volleys from the cornfield 
and open ground, fainter replies from the woods. 
It was an indication that Lawton was growing 
weaker. | 

“Forward!” It was an electric word. The 
Reserves, with Ricketts’s two brigades, went up 
with a cheer into the woods, through into the 
open field, following the fleeing Rebels, who were 
streaming past Miller’s, over the field in front 
of the church, into the woods behind it. The 
Reserves reached the middle of the field; but 


220 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


Jackson’s Advance. Meade’s Division. Hartsulf’s Brigade. 


now from the woods into which Lawton had fled 
there were quick volleys of musketry and rapid 
cannon shots from Hayes’s, and Trimble’s, and 
Walker’s, and Douglas’s, and Starke’s brigades 
of Jackson’s division. 

The Reserves stopped in the middle of the field. 
They gave a few volleys. The men dropped fast. 
Some of the wounded crawled, some hobbled 
away; others lay where they fell, motionless for- 
ever. The living turned and sought the shelter 
of the woods, from which they had driven the 
enemy. 

The aspect of affairs suddenly changed. Jack- 
son moved forward his whole line, not only across 
the field in front of the church, but extended 
- farther north, towards Poffenberger’s. ‘Send me 
your best brigade,’’ was the message from Hooker 
to Ricketts. Hartsuff, of Ricketts’s division, had 
not been engaged. A portion only of Double- 
day’s troops had been in. MHartsuff was on 
the hill behind Poffenberger. His troops, the 
Twelfth and Thirteenth Massachusetts, Ninth 
New York, and Eleventh Pennsylvania, went 
down the hill upon the run, south towards Mil- 
ler’s, past the retreating brigades, closing in like 
an iron gate between them and the exultant en- 
emy. They came into line upon the crest of the 
hill, crowning it with their dark forms, and cov- 
ering it with flame and smoke. 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. G2¥ 


Jackson’s Loss. Jackson reforms his Line. 


“] think they will hold it,’ said General 
Hooker, as he watched them presenting an un- 
broken front. Jackson pushed on his brigades, 
but they recoiled before the steady and de- 
structive fire rolled out by Hartsuff, also by Gib- 
bons, and Patrick, who were holding the ridge 
by Poffenberger’s. -Jackson’s liné melted away. 
“ At this early hour,” says Jackson, in his report, 
**General Starke was killed; Colonel Douglas, 
commanding Lawton’s brigade, was killed; Gen- 
eral Lawton, commanding a division, and Colo- 
nel Walker, commanding a brigade, were severely 
wounded. More than half of the brigades of 
Lawton and Hayes were killed or wounded; and 
more than a third of Trimble’s; and all the regi- 
mental commanders in those brigades except two, 
were killed or wounded.” * 

Once more the Rebels retired to the woods be- 
hind the church. There was a lull in the storm. 
The shattered brigades of Jackson went to the 
rear, taking shelter behind the ledges. Hood, 
with his ragged Texans, came to the front by the 
church. Stuart, who was out on Jackson’s left, 
towards the Potomac, came up with his artil- 
lery. arly’s division also came to the front, all 
forming on the uneven ground west and north- 
west of the church in the woods; also Taliafer- 
ro’s, Jones’s, and Winder’s brigades. 


* Southern Hist., Vol. II. p. 132. 


phe BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


Hooker’s Batteries. At Poffenberger’s. Affairs at eight o’clock. 
DSSS sss. = 


Hooker was quick to plant his batteries. 
Those of Doubleday’s division gallopped to the 
ridge northeast of Poffenberger’s house. Gib- 
bons’s, Cooper’s, Haston’s, Gerrish’s, Durell’s, and 
Monroe’s, were wheeled into position. Projec- 
tiles of every form cut the air. The oak-trees 
of the grove by Miller’s were splintered and 
torn, the branches were wrenched from the 
trunks, and hurled to the earth. 

Rebel shells tore through Poffenberger’s 
house, knocking out the gable, ripping up the 
roof, tossing boards and shingles into the air. 
The beehives in the yard were tumbled over,- 
and the angry swarms went out, stinging friend 
and foe. 

Hooker had crossed the turnpike, and was 
a few hundred feet beyond the _ toll-house. 
Hartsuff was wounded and carried from the 
field. The Reserves, broken and exhausted, 
were in the rear, too much shattered to be relied 
on in anemergency. Ricketts’s brigades, which 
had met D. H. Hill, had fallen back. Hartsuff’s, 
Gibbons’s, and Patrick’s alone were in front. 

It was nearly eight o’clock, and Hooker’s 
troops thus far had borne the whole of the con- 
test unaided. They had driven Jackson from 
his front line, had assaulted his second, had re- 
ceived, like a stalwart knight of the olden time, 
unflinchingly the heavy blow which the Rebel 
commander had given. 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. gs 


Mansfield’s Advance. Hooker’s Orders. Mansfield wounded. 


es ere 


Hooker rode forward and reconnoitred. 

“That is the key to the position,’ he said, 
pointing toward the church. 

‘Tell Mansfield to send up a division,” was 
the order sent to this venerable officer, who was 
slowly advancing from Hoffman’s farm. 

Williams’s division went up into the strip of 
woods east of the cornfield, Crawford’s brigade 
on the right, and Gordon’s on the left. 

‘Tell Doubleday to hold them on the right. 
Don’t let them turn our flank,” was the word 
sent up to Doubleday, who was quietly watching 
the Rebels from the cornfield west of Poffenber- 
ger’s. 

There were signs of an advance of Jackson’s line. 

‘‘ Keep them well stirred up,” was the message 
to the artillerymen. The thirty-six guns planted 
on the ridge reopened. 

“T cannot advance, but I can hold my 
ground,” said Ricketts. 

While Crawford and Gordon were forming, 
General Mansfield was mortally wounded and 
borne to the rear, and the command of the corps 
devolved on General Williams. Green’s division 
came up and formed on the right of Williams’s, 
now commanded by Gordon, reaching south 
nearly to Muma’s house. King’s, Cothran’s and 
Hampton’s batteries, belonging to the Twelfth 
Corps, opened a rapid fire. The One Hundred 


22.4 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


Hooker wounded. Williams’s Attack. 


and Twenty-third Pennsylvania was pushed — 
across the turnpike into the woods west of Muil- 
ler’s, near the toll-gate. 

While making these dispositions General Hook- 
er dismounted and walked to the extreme front. 
There was a constant fire of musketry from the 
woods. He passed through it all, returned to his 
horse, and once more was in the saddle. He was 
in range of the Rebels. There was a heavy vol- 
ley. <A bullet entered his foot, inflicting a painful 
wound. ‘Three men fell near him on the instant. 
But he issued his orders with coolness and delib- 
eration. ‘Tell Crawford and Gordon to carry 
those woods and hold them,” he said to his aide as 
he rode slowly to the rear. He tried to keep in 
the saddle, but fainted. ‘* You must leave the 
field and have your wound attended to,” said 
the surgeon. It was with great reluctance that 
he rode to the rear; but Sumner at that moment 
was going up with his superb corps, the Second, 
which had never quailed before the enemy. 

Williams formed his line, his own division on 
the right, and Green’s on the left. 

Patrick and Gibbons were moved down to the 
turnpike. ‘The troops were enthusiastic. They 
had driven the enemy, had captured battle-flags 
and prisoners. 

Gordon and Crawford advanced over the mown 
field, across the turnpike, into the woods, and 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 225 


Affairs at nine o’clock. Jackson’s Operations. 


poured in their fire. Jackson replied. The 
woods were all aflame. From every tree, and 
knoll, and ledge, and _ hillock, there were volleys 
of musketry, and flashes of artillery. 

It was a terrible fire, Gordon and Crawford 
were close upon the Rebel lines, behind the ledges 
and the breastwork which they had thrown up. 
They almost broke through. A little more 
power, the support of another brigade, the push- 
ing in of another division at this moment, and 
Jackson would have been forced from his strong- 
hold; andif driven from that position he must 
fight in the smooth fields beyond, or be folded 
back upon the centre and right, with the door 
half opened for Hooker to march upon Shepards- 
town and cut off the retreat. 

It is nearly nine o’clock when Gordon and 
Crawford stand within three hundred feet of the 
Rebel line, in the woods northwest of the church. 
They face west. They fight Grigsby, Stafford, 
and Stuart of Jackson’s corps. 

It is a critical moment with Jackson. The 
Yankees must be repulsed or all is lost. Harly’s 
and Hood’s divisions are behind the church. 

Early moves north, sweeping past the church. 
He strikes Crawford’s flank and rear, and forces 
him back. Green hastens up to sustain Crawford, 
and is also driven across the turnpike into the 


ficld nearly to the strip of woods west of it. 
10 * 0 


226 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


Sedgwick’s Division. The Church. 


SUMNER’S ATTACK. 


Sedegwick’s division of Sumner’s corps has been 
coming into line in Miller’s cornfield. If it had 
been earlier on the ground it would have been of 
infinite value. It is a noble division, led by an 
able commander. 

General Sumner himself is there, gray-haired, 
sober, vigilant, watchful. He examines the 
eround and the positions of the enemy. 

Sedgwick forms his division in three lines. Da- 
na in front, Gorman in the second, and Howard 
in the third line. They pass in front of Mans- 
field’s troops towards the church. 

Jackson has been hurrying up reinforcements. 
The troops which have been on the march from 
Harper’s Ferry are brought in. 

‘“‘ By this time,” says Jackson, ‘the expected 
reinforcements, consisting of Semmes’s, and An- 
derson’s, and a part of Barksdale’s, of McLaw’s 
division, arrived, and the whole, including Grigs- 
by’s command, now united, charged upon the en- 
emy, checking his advance, then driving him 
back with great slaughter.” * 

Jackson’s line unites with D. H. Hill’s in the 
field between the church and Muma’s house. 
Muma’s is east of the church. Sedgwick is 
northeast of it. As Sedgwick approaches the 


* Jackson’s Report, Scuthern History, Vol. II. p. 133. 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 2°27 


Dana’s Brigade. Howard changes Front. 


church, Jackson swings up his right wing from 
the field by Muma’s. Sedgwick’s second and 
third lines are close upon the first. The solid 
shot which the Rebel batteries fire cut through 
all the lines. The bullets which miss the men 
in Dana’s brigade take effect in Gorman’s, and 
those which pass Gorman strike down Howard’s 
men. 
Dana’s brigade was close upon the enemy. 
The hot blasts from the Rebel artillery, and the 
sheets of flame from the infantry, scorched and 
withered the line. The volleys given in return 
were exceedingly destructive. But Gorman’s 
and Howard’s men stood with ordered arms, 
chafing under the terrible fire, without being able 
to give a reply. They were so close upon Dana 
that they could do nothing. Fifteen minutes has 
passed. Dana’s brigade is lost from sight. By 
stooping, and laying my eyes near the ground, I 
can see the dusky forms of the men through the 
drifting cloud. They are holding their position. 

But the troops which Jackson has been swing- 
ing up on his right, which have been hidden 
from Sedgwick and Sumner, suddenly appear. 
They seem to rise from the ground as they come 
over the ridge of land in the field between the 
church and Muma’s house. They move north- 
east to gain Sedgwick’s rear. 

“Change front!’ is the quick, imperative 


Papas BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


The Attack upon Sedgwick’s Flank. Sedgwick retreats. 


order from Sumner to Howard. The third line 
under Howard has been facing southwest. The 
regiments break rank, move out in files, and form 
once more, facing southeast. 

There is confusion. Some men think it an 
order to retreat, and move towards Miller’s corn- 
field. The Rebel line advances in beautiful 
order. Howard is beset by three times his num- 
ber of men. Gorman is attacked on his left. 
The Rebels pour a volley into the backs of his 
men. The whole force is outflanked. 

A retreat is ordered, and the regiments fall 
back through Miller’s cornfield to the woods. 

The Rebels are strong and exultant. They 
cheer and scream and swing their caps. They 
think that they have won a victory. They press 
on to regain the woods from which they were 
driven in the morning. 

‘‘ Form behind the batteries,” shouts Sumner, 
riding along the lines. The troops are not panic- 
stricken. They are cool and deliberate. 

Tompkins, Kirby, Bartlett, and Owen are 
ready with their howitzers. ‘Give them canis- 
ter!’ is the order. 

The batteries are posted along the ridge, in the 
cornfield. The limbers and caissons are a few 
rods down the slope. The horses nibble the 
corn, they prick up their ears a little when a 
shot screams past, but are so accustomed to the 
firing that they do not mind it much. 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 929 


Jackson repulsed by the Batteries. The Fifteenth Massachusetts. 


Gorman, Dana, and lastly Howard, who has 
stood like a protecting wall, gain the rear of the 
batteries, and the field is open for them. » 

The Rebels advance. The batteries open. The 
discharges are rapid. No troops can live under 
such a fire. In five minutes it is decided that 
they cannot force the Union troops from the 
cornfield, nor from the woods east of it. They 
retreat once more to the church and to the ra- 
vine by Muma’s. 

Sedgwick has been engaged a half hour, but 
his loss has been great. 

The Fifteenth Massachusetts was in Gorman’s 
brigade, — the regiment which fought so nobly 
at Poolesville. 

Twenty-four officers and five hundred and 
eighty-two men marched towards the church, 
but in twenty minutes three hundred and forty- 
three were killed and wounded. Other regi- 
ments suffered as much. ; 

Jackson’s loss was as severe as Sedgwick’s. 

General Hood, in his official report, says: 
‘‘ Here I witnessed the most terrible clash of 
arms by far that has occurred during the 
war.” * 

‘¢ A little world of artillery was turned loose 
upon us,’ says the chaplain of the Fourth Texas.+ 


* Campaign from Texas to Maryland, p. 89. 
t Ibid, p. 90. 


230 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


Sedgwick’s Attack, 


SEDGWICK’s ATTACK. 


The diagram gives the position of the troops on this part of the 
field at the time of Sedgwick’s attack. 


1 Dana’s Brigade. 6 Meade’s Division. 

2 Gorman’s Brigade. 7 Doubleday’s Division. 

3 Howard’s, after change of front. 8 Position reached by Green and 

4 QGreen’s and Williams’s Divisions. Williams. 

5 Ricketts’s Division. 9 Union batteries in Miller‘s corn- 
field. 

J Jackson’s head-quarters. P Poffenberger’s. 

L Ledges with breastworks. T Toll House. 

M Miller’s, R Rebels attacking Sedgwick’s flank. 


The road running north from the church is the Hagerstown turn- 
pike. That running northeast from the church leads to Hoffman’s 


farm. The narrow way in the woods where Jackson established his 
head-quarters, is a farm-road. 


ee 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 981 


The Nineteenth Massachusetts. Young Putnam. His wooden Sword. 


In Dana’s line is the Nineteenth Massachu- 
setts. It fought at Fair Oaks, Savage Station, 
White-oak Swamp, Glendale, and Malvern. Its 
ranks have been sadly thinned. A great many 
brave men have fallen, but those who survive 
emulate the deeds of their comrades. They 
remember one who fell in front of Richmond, — 
a descendant of a glorious Revolutionary sire, the 
patriot Putnam, relative of the young officer, — 
Lieutenant Putnam, who fell mortally wounded 
at Ball’s Bluff. He was born where the old Gen- 
eral played in his childhood, before be became a 
rifle-ranger fighting the Indians in the dark for- 
est bordering Lake Champlain. They could not 
forget Robert Winthrop Putnam, the frail and 
feeble boy. He was but sixteen years old when 
the flag was insulted at Sumter. His whole soul 
was on fire. He resolved to enlist. The surgeons 
would not accept him, he was so weak and slen- 
der. Again and again he tried to become a sol- 
dier, but was as often rejected. 

The fire of patriotism burned within his breast. 
He slept in the room which his great ancestor 
had occupied in his youth. He sat by the win- 
dow through the moonlit nights, and carved a 
wooden sword, thus feeding the consuming flame. 
On one side he cut this motto: — 

‘‘ NOT TO BE DRAWN WITHOUT JUSTICE; 
Not TO BE SHEATHED WITHOUT Honor.” 


as 


932 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


How Putnam enlisted. Personal Adventures. 


Upon the other side, giving vent to his pent-up 
soul, were these words : — 


‘“ DeatH To Traitors!’’ 


He brooded upon his disappointment by day 
and dreamed of it at night. He made one more 
effort. No questions were asked; he was ac- 
cepted, and became a soldier. He was intelli- 
gent, manly, courageous, and temperate. His 
drink was cold water. Calmly and deliberately 
he bade farewell to his aged parents and his 
young sister and brother, turned from the dear 
scenes of home and childhood, hallowed by ever 
fragrant memories, buckled on his knapsack, and 
took his place in the ranks. When mortally 
wounded he refused to leave the field, but 
cheered his comrades in the fight. In his last 
letter, written to his sister, dated on the eve of 
battle, he wrote : — 

‘¢T left home to help defend a Constitution that 
was second to none in the world, a flag which 
every nation on earth respected; and if I am to 
die, I shall be happy to die in the service of my 
country.” 

The boy-soldier was gone from the ranks, but 
his spirit was there, an all-animating presence. 

When the battle began in the morning, I was 
at Hagerstown. It was ten miles to the field, 
but though so far, the cannonade seemed very 


i 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 2338 


The Ride to the Field. Good Advice. 


near. It rolled along the valley and rumbled 
among the mountains. The people left their 
breakfasts, and climbed the hills and steeples to 
behold the battle-cloud. The women were pale, 
and stood with tearful eyes, forgetting their 
household cares. 

A ride directly down the Sharpsburg pike 
would have taken me to the rear of Lee’s army. 
It would be a new and interesting experience to 
witness the fight from that side. I started down 
the pike, my horse upon the gallop. A mile out 
of town I met a farmer. 

‘¢ Where are you going ?”’ he asked. 

**'To see the battle.” 

“You will run right into the Rebels if you 
keep on.” 

“That is what I want to do. I want to see 
the battle from their side.” 

‘¢ Let me advise you not to go. I was in their 
clutches yesterday. They threatened to take me 
to Richmond. They stole my horse and my 
money, and I am glad enough to get clear. Let 
me advise you again not to go. You had better 
go down to Boonesboro’, and see the battle from 
our side.” 

It was good advice, and I was soon upon the 
Boonesboro’ road. 

- Icame across a Rebel soldier lying at the foot 
of an oak-tree. He was weak with sickness, 


234 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


The Rebel Soldier. The Contest. 


worn down by long marches, and had dropped 
from the ranks. He belonged to Longstreet’s 
corps. He was too weak to speak. His breath- 
ing was short and quick and faint. His cheeks 
were hollow, his eyes sunken. ‘Two kind-hearted 
farmers came and took him into a house. 

‘*T am sorry I came up here to fight you,” he 
whispered. He had lain beneath the oak a day 
and a night, waiting death, expecting no help or 
mercy from any one. The unexpected kindness 
filled his eyes with tears. 

Striking off fromthe turnpike I galloped across 
the fields, through woods, over hills and hollows, 
reached the Antietam, crossed it by a ford, and 
ascended the hill to Hoffman’s farm. 

Sedgwick and Williams were fighting to hold 
their ground. It wasa terrific fire. There were 
heavy surges, like breakers upon the sea-beaches, 
like angry thunder in the clouds, — ripples, rolls, 
waves, crashes! It was not like the voice of 
many waters, for that is deep, solemn, sweet, 
peaceful ; the symbol of the song of the redeemed 
ones, which will ascend forever before the throne 
of God, when all war shall have ceased. 

It was a fearful contest in front of Sumner. 
Miller’s cornfield was all aflame. The woods by 
the church’ smoked like a furnace. Hooker’s’ 
cannon were silent, cooling their brazen lips after 
the morning’s fever; but the men stood beside the ~ 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 935 


The Hospitals. The Pennsylvania Reserves. 


guns, looking eagerly into the forest beyond the 
turnpike, watching for the first sign of advance 
from the Rebels. 

All the houses and barns near Hoffman’s were 
taken for hospitals. There were thousands of 
wounded. Long lines of ambulances were com- 
ing down from the field. The surgeons were at 
work. It was not a pleasant sight to see so 
many torn, mangled arms, legs, heads; men 
with their eyes shot out, their arms off at the 
shoulders, their legs broken and crushed by can- 
non shot. But they were patient, cheerful, and 
hopeful. The nurses and attendants made them 
comfortable beds of straw upon the ground. The 
agents of the Sanitary and Christian Commissions 
gave them coffee and crackers. Many a noble 
hero said, “I thank you! God bless you!” 

In the hollow between Poffenberger’s and Hoff- 
man’s were the Pennsylvania Reserves, what was 
left of them. Once they were fifteen thousand ; 
now, a remnant. They were sad, but not dis- 
heartened. ‘* We have had a terrible fight,” said 
one. ‘ Yes, and we thrashed the Rebels. Joe 
Hooker knows how to do it,” another said. ‘‘ We 
are badly cut up, though. We can’t lose many 
more, because there ar’n’t many more to lose,” 
said the first. 

‘‘T am sorry Hooker is wounded. We had 
licked the Rebels fairly when he left the field. 


936 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


Watching the Cannon-Balls. At Poffenberger’s. 


I guess they won’t put us in again to-day; we 
have done our share; but if they do, we are 
ready,” said the others. 

The shells and solid shot from the Rebel bat- 
teries in the woods north of the church were 
dropping around us. 

‘See there! see it tear the ground!” one 
shouted, and pointed towards the spot where a 
solid shot was throwing up the earth. “The 
man who owns that land is getting his ploughing 
done for nothing,” said another. 

“Ha! ha! ha!” 

Another shot struck near a soldier, and covered 
him with earth. ‘“ Fire away! you can’t do that 
again, Pll bet,”’ he said, as he brushed the dirt 
from his clothes. 

‘¢ Stand by the guns!’’ was the quick, impera- 
tive order. The men sprang to their feet. Those 
who were at the spring, in the hollow of the field, 
filling their canteens, came to the lines upon the 
run. 

‘‘What’s up?” asked an officer. “The Reb- 
els are massing in front, and it looks as though 
they were going to attack.” 

‘‘ Gibbons’s brigade is across the turnpike; he 
will hold them, I reckon,”’ said another officer. 

I rode up on the hill in rear of Poffenberger’s. 
Captain Gibbons was in front of his battery, look- 
ing across the turnpike into the woods. 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. py 


The Batteries. 


‘It is a little risky for you to be on horseback. 
Do you see that fence over there ?”’ 

aah ef (se 

‘¢ Well, the Rebel skirmishers are there, and 
we are in easy range. If you want to get a sight 
of them, you had better dismount, tie your horse, 
and creep down under the shelter of this fence.” 

The cannon balls were thick upon the ground, 
and there were pools of blood where the artillery 
horses had fallen. 

‘¢ This was a warm place an hour ago, and may 
be again; for I see that the Rebels are up to 
something over there.” 

I look as he directs, and see a column of troops 
moving through the woods. They are in sight 
but a moment. I walk along the line, past Gib- 
bons’s, Cooper’s, Easton’s, Durrell’s, Muma’s, 
and Gerrish’s batteries, to Poffenberger’s barn. 
Gerrish’s battery is very near the building. The 
gunners are tired with their morning’s work, and 
are sound asleep under the wheat-stacks, undis- 
turbed by the roar a half-mile distant, where 
Sedewick is at it, or by the shot and shells which 
scream past them. 

Dead and wounded men are lying in Poffen- 
berger’s door-yard. The ground is stained with 
blood. Two noble white horses are there, one 
with his head smashed, the other with his neck 
torn, — both killed by the same shot. There are 


238 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


Gibbons’s Brigade. Miller’s Cornfield. The wounded Generals. 


dead men in the turnpike. Gibbons’s brigade is 
behind the stone wall. The toll-house is riddled 
with bullets. There are flattened pieces of lead 
among the stones. The trees are scarred. There 
are fragments of shells. The ground is strown 
with knapsacks, guns, belts, canteens, and arti- 
cles dropped in the fight. 

‘“‘] guess you are about near enough. This is 
the front line,” says a soldier. 

I think so, too, for the bullets are singing over 
our heads and past us. I go up through the 
woods, south of Poffenberger’s, to Miller’s corn- 
field. The contest has lost some of its fury. 
The Rebels have been repulsed, and both sides 
are taking breath. 

Mansfield’s corps is in the woods, east of Mil- 
ler’s. Sedgwick’s division is in the cornfield, 
behind the batteries of Cothran, Woodruff, 
Mathews, and Thompson. The batteries are 
pouring a constant stream of shells into the 
woods beyond the church. 

The Union loss has been very heavy; — Hooker, 
Sedgwick, Dana, Hartsuff, wounded, and Mansfield 
killed. Meade commands Hooker’s corps, and 
Howard, with his one arm, commands Sedgwick’s 
division. He lost his right arm at Fair Oaks, 
but he isin the saddle again. The Rebel dead 
are thick around the church, and in the field in 
front of it, and along the turnpike, mingled with 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 239 


The Officer’s Story. The Tenth Maine. Lieut.-Colonel Dwight. 


those who have fallen from the Union ranks. 
Five times the tide of battle has swept over the 
ground during the morning. The officers point 
out the exact spot where they stood. They tell 
what happened. 

‘*We stood out there, in the centre of the 
field,’ says an officer of the Tenth Maine. ‘We 
came up just as Ricketts was giving way. The 
Rebels were outflanking him, and his troops were 
streaming through the cornfield. The Rebels 
were pushing north towards Miller’s. Our line 
of march was towards the west, which brought 
us partly in rear of their line. Those dead men 
which you see out there belonged to the Twen- 
tieth Georgia. They were on the right of the 
Rebel line. We gave them a volley right into 
_their backs. They didn’t know what to make of 
it at first. They looked round, saw that we 
were in their rear, then they cut for the woods. 
It forced back the whole Rebel line. Just then 
Corporal Viele, of company K, of our regiment, 
and a corporal of the Second Massachusetts, 
dashed after them, and captured the Colonel of 
the Twentieth Georgia, and a lieutenant.” 

‘“ And Lieutertant-Colonel Dwight, of the Sec- 
ond Massachusetts, captured a battle-flag,’’ says 
a soldier of that regiment, his eyes sparkling 
with enthusiasm. “ He brought it in under a 
shower of bullets, waving it over his head. 


240 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


French’s Division. Richardson’s Division. Morris’s Brigade. 


He got clear back to the lines, and then was 
wounded, they say mortally.” 


THE CENTRE. 


There was a lull in the battle after the terrible 
fight around the church. 

General French’s division, of Sumner’s corps, 
followed Sedgwick across the Antietam. The 
division, after crossing the stream, turned to the 
left, marching through the fields towards the 
house of Mr. Muma. Richardson, as soon as 
he crossed the bridge, filed to the left, moved 
along the bank of the river, crossed a little 
_ brook which springs from the hillside near Ru- 
let’s, encountered Hill’s skirmishers, drove them 
up the ravine, and formed his line under cover 
of a hill. 

French is in the ravine. Half of his division 
is north of the brook, the other half south. He 
has Weber’s, Kimball’s, and Morris’s_ brigades. 
He forms his brigades, as Sedgwick did his, in- 
three lines, — Weber in front, Morris in the 
second, and Kimball in the third line. 

Morris’s men have never been under fire. 
They are new troops. They have heard the roar 
of battle through the morning, and now, as they 
advance across the fields, the Rebel batteries on 
the hills all around Rulet’s house open upon > 
_ them, gun after gun, battery after battery. The 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 241 


Hill’s Position. 


hillside grows white. A silver cloud floats down 
the ravine. They are so near that it infolds them. 
There are flashes, jets of smoke, iron bolts in the 
air above, also tearing up the ground or cutting 
through the ranks; they feel the breath of the 
shot, the puff of air in their faces, and hear the 
terrifying shriek. A comrade leaps into the air, 
spins round, or falls like a log to the ground. 
They behold a torn and mangled body. They 
saw not the shot which wounded him. It is a 
terrible experience, yet they bear the trial firmly. 
They drop upon the ground while the lines are 
forming, and the shells do them little damage. 
Hill has his front line in the ravine by Muma’s. 
The Rebel soldiers have an excellent opportunity 
to fill their canteens from the cool water bubbling 
up from his spring-house. The sharpshooters are 
in Muma’s chambers, firing from the windows at 
French’s troops as they advance over the field east 
of the house. There is a graveyard east of the 
house, and the skirmishers lie behind the graves, 
their muskets resting upon the white headstones. 
French’s division joins Sedgwick’s; it faces 
southwest, while Richardson’s faces west. French 
arrives while Sedgwick is having the great 
struggle in front of the church. Kirby’s, Bart- 
lett’s, and Owen’s batteries of Sedgwick’s division 
are on the hillside east of Miller’s field, raking 


the Rebel lines. 
ll P 


249 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


French’s and Richardson’s Attack. 


FRENCH’S AND RICHARDSON’S ATTACK. 


The diagram shows the positions occupied by French and Rich- 
ardson, also by Franklin’s and Porter’s corps. 


1 French’s Division in brigades. B_ Boonesboro’ Bridge. 

2 Richardson’s “ “ Je Pye He Hill: 

8 Richardson’s batteries, with Sykes, Hd Hood in reserve. 
of Porter’s corps, in support. L_ Longstreet. 

4 Taft’s and Weber’s heavy batteries, M Muma’s house, and_burial- 
and Porter’s corps. ground. 

5 Slocum’s and Smith’s Divisions, Pp Dr. Piper’s. 
Franklin’s corps. - R_ Rulet’s. 


6 Sedgwick’s. 


Smith relieved French in the afternoon. 
The roads are narrow carriage-ways leading to the farm-houses. 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 243 


Muma’s Buildings burned. Weber’s Brigade. Kimball’s Brigade. 


The Rebels occupying Muma’s house and barn 
annoy Sumner’s artillerymen, who in turn aim 
their guns at the buildings. A shell bursts in the 
barn and sets it on fire. A black cloud rises. 
The flames burst forth. The Rebels, finding the 
place too hot for them, apply the torch to the 
house, and retreat to Rulet’s orchard. The dark 
pillar of cloud, the bright flames beneath, the con- 
stant flashing of the artillery, and the hillsides 
alive with thousands of troops, their banners way- 
ing, their bayonets gleaming, is a scene of terri- 
ble grandeur. 

Weber’s brigade advances steadily, throwing 
down the fences, scaling the stone-walls, preserv- 
ing a regular line. Not so with Morris’s, which 
is thrown into confusion. The time has come 
to strike a great blow. 

‘Tell General Kimball to move to the front, 
and come in on the left of Weber,’ was French’s 
order to General Kimball. 

The brigade swings towards the south, past 
Morris’s brigade, enters the ravine, and pushes on 
towards Rulet’s. 

It is a magnificent movement. Richardson at 
the moment is crowning the hill south of the 
brook, while Tidball’s battery is throwing shells 
up the ravine into the orchard beyond Rulet’s. 

The hills are covered with troops. Far up the 
hillside in Rulet’s, Muma’s, and Dr. Piper’s corn- 


244 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


The Rebel Forces. The sunken Road. Mr. Rulet’s House. 


fields are Longstreet’s and D. H. Hill’s troops. 
On the hills south of Sharpsburg is A. P. Hill, 
just arriving from Harper’s Ferry. The Rebel 
infantry is behind the stone walls and rail fences. 
All of the hills are smoking with artillery. Jack- 
son’s batteries by the church are still thundering 
at Howard, who, now that Sedgwick has been 
carried from the field, commands that division 
of Sumner’s corps. Burnside’s batteries by the 
bridge are all in operation. ; 

Mr. Rulet and Mr. Muma live about half a 
mile from the Hagerstown pike. <A narrow path 
leads along the hillside to the pike. Just beyond 
Mr. Muma’s, the road is sunk below the surface 
of the ground. It has been used many years, and 
has been washed by rains, forming a natural 
rifle-pit, in which D. H. Hill posts his first line. 
Between this pathway and the pike is a corn- 
field, in which he stations his second line. © His 
artillery is planted on the knoll, higher up, near 
the turnpike. 

It is but a few rods from Muma’s to the road. 
“ Bloody Lane,” the inhabitants call it now. 
The distance from Rulet’s is less. There is an 
apple-orchard west of Rulet’s house. Beyond 
that the ground rises sharp and steep. It is a 
rounded knoll, sloping towards the west into 
the sunken path. ‘ 

The line of advance taken by Weber carries 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 945 


Weber and Kimball Advance. The Artillery Fire. 


him directly towards the smoking ruins of Mu- 
ma’s buildings, while Kimball passes between 
Muma’s and Rulet’s. 

It is a gallant advance which they make. 
Weber’s troops move over the mown field, past 
the burial-ground, leaping the fences. Some of 
the men pause a moment, rest their rifles on the 
rails and the tombstones, and take a long shot 
at the dark line in the cornfield. They cannot 
see the nearer line of Hill’s division, lying close 
in the hidden road. | 

Kimball, a little farther south, joining his right 
to Weber’s left, sweeps on in splendid order past 
Muma’s spring-house, his left wing touching 
the apple-trees around Rulet’s. The Rebel can- 
non on the hills are sending down a steady 
stream of shells. The Union batteries east of 
the Antietam—the twenty-pounder Parrotts — 
are throwing rifled shot in reply. Richardson’s 
batteries on the hillock beyond the ravine are 
firing from the southeast, while Kirby, Owen, 
Thompson, and Bartlett, are raining all kinds 
of shot from the north. It is a tumultuous 
roar. Under cover of this tremendous fire, 
French moves up the hill. His men reach the 
crest, and stand within ten rods of the sunken 
road. There is a rail fence between them and 
the road. Suddenly, thousands of men seem 
to grow out of the ground. The long line 


246 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


The Attack at the Road. The Charge. 


rises. The Rebels thrust the muzzles of their 
muskets between the rails. The work of death 
begins. French’s men, instead of fleeing from 
this unexpected foe, intrenched in so strong a 
position, rush with a loud hurrah towards the 
fence. Hundreds fall while running, but those 
who survive pour their fire into the road. The 
_ combatants are not ten paces apart. Hill’s line 
in the road is consumed like a straw in a can- 
dle’s flame. It melts like lead in a crucible. 
Officers and men go down, falling in heaps. 
The few who are left after the tremendous vol- 
leys flee into the cornfield, towards the turnpike. 
French’s men are wild with the enthusiasm which 
comes with success. They tear away the rails, 
leap over the fence, plunge into the road, tramp- 
ling down the dying and dead, over the second 
fence, into the cornfield, and rush upon the sec- 
ond line with uncontrollable fury, scattering it, 
breaking it, like a bundle of brittle fagots. It 
is a terrible struggle. There are hand to hand 
fights in the corn-rows; Union and Rebel fall 
together, literally in heaps, like sticks of wood 
tossed together by choppers ! 

. «See the smoke how the lightning is cleaving asunder, 

Hark ! the guns, peal and peal, how they boom in the thunder! 
From host to host with kindling sound, 

The shouting circle signals round ; 


Ay, shout it forth to life or death, — 
Freer already breathes the breath! 


“XI 


% 


) 


‘4 
i 


| Ni 
yeti 


i 
| 


f Wey ipflis 


Wh 


~ 


hl 


uaa 


d like a straw in a candle’s flame.’’ — Page 246. 


is consume 


the road 


ine in 


“The ] 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 247 


Richardson’s Operations. 


*EThe war is waging, slaughter raging, 
"dnd heavy through the reeking pall 
"The iron death-dice fall!” 
: Nearer they close — foes upon foes ; 
‘Ready !’ — from square to square it goes. 


‘e They kneel as one man from flank to flank, 
‘And the sharp fire comes’from the foremost rank. 
Many a soldier to earth is sent, 
- Many a gap by the ball is rent; 
O’er the éorpse before springs the hinder man, 
That the line may not fail to the fearless van. 

- To the right, to the left, and around and around, 
Death whirls in its dance on the bloody ground. 
God’s sunlight is quenched in the fiery fight, — 
Over the host falls a brooding night !. 

Brothers, God. grant, when this life is o’er, 
In the life to come that we meet once more!” 


‘ 


re 
Y ee cc RI ATTACK. 


While French. was thus dealing with coneral 
D. H. Hill, Richardson was engaging Longstreet. 
Richardson crossed the Antietam about ten 
o’clock. He marched down the western bank, 
across the farm of Mr. Newkirch, crossing the 
little stream coming down from Rulet’s. 

He moved to gain the high knolls between 
Rulet’s and the Boonesboro’ road. Having 
crossed the brook, he faced west, drove in the 
Rebel pickets, and ascended the nearest knoll. 

All of Longstreet’s batteries opened upon him, 


248 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


Meagher’s Brigade. Charge of the Irish Brigade. 


but his men moved round the hillock, through 
the hollows, and marched well up to the Rebel 
lines with little loss. General Meagher, with his 
Irish brigade, was on the right, the tip of its 
wing touching Rulet’s garden. Caldwell’s bri- 
gade was on the left, reaching down nearly to 
the Boonesboro’ turnpike. Brooks’s brigade was 
in reserve. 

Longstreet’s batteries were on the hills around 
Dr. Piper’s, and his troops a part of them in the 
pathway, the upper end of which was held by 
D. H. Hill. His line was so formed, and such 
was the ground, that Caldwell, instead of swing- 
ing round upon Sharpsburg, was obliged to fall 
in rear of Meagher, and become a second line, 
instead of a part of the first. 

It was eleven o’clock when Richardson moved 
forward. French was pouring in his volleys 
north of Rulet’s, and now Meagher, climbing 
the knolls, and rushing up the ravines, came 
upon the Rebels in the road. It was a repetition, 
or rather a continuation, of the terrible scene 
then enacting a few rods further north, —hun- 
dreds falling at every discharge. The courage 
of the Irish brigade did not flag for an instant. 
They fought till their ammunition was exhausted. 
They drove the Rebels from the road and held it. 
Again and again Longstreet endeavored to re- 
cover it, but could not succeed. 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 249 


Richardson wounded. Caldwell’s Brigade. Brooks’s Brigade. 


' General Richardson was wounded and carried 
from the field. General Meagher was bruised by 
the falling of his horse. His men worn, ex- 
hausted, half their number killed and wounded, 
were withdrawn. He retired by breaking ranks 
and filing to the rear, Caldwell’s troops filing 
to the front at the same moment and taking 
their places. It was done as deliberately as a 
dress parade. 

The ground towards the Boonesboro’ pike is 
very much broken. There are numerous hillocks 
and ravines, cornfields, stone walls, and fences. 
Under shelter of these, Longstreet stealthily 
moved a division to attack Caldwell’s right flank, 
in the cornfield west of the sunken road. It was 
a part of the force attacking French. Brooks’s 
brigade went upon the run up the ravine, and 
filled the gap between Caldwell and Kimball, and 
held it against all the assaults of the enemy. 

On Caldwell’s left, the sunken road winds 
among the hills. The Rebels still held that sec- 
tion. Colonel Barlow reconnoitred the ground. 
He commanded the Sixty-first and Sixty-fourth 
New York regiments. He ordered them to 
march by the left flank. They pushed out into 
the fields towards Sharpsburg, gained the rear of 
the Rebels still holding the road, and forced three 
hundred to surrender. He also captured their 


stand of colors. 
11* 


250 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


Colonel Cross and the Fifth Néw Hampshire. The Charge. 


There is once more a lull in the battle. Long- 
street is making preparations to regain his lost 
ground. Having failed on French’s right, by 
Rulet’s, he renews the attack on the left. But 
Colonel Cross of the Fifth New Hampshire, who 
has watched with eagle eye the Indians of the 
western plains, who has tracked the grizzly bears 
of the Rocky Mountains, who is brave as well as 
vigilant, discovers the movement. It is the 
same which has been successful against Sedg- 
wick. The left of Caldwell is far advanced 
towards Dr. Piper’s, when Colonel Cross dis- 
covers the Rebel force making a rapid movement 
to gain a hill in his rear. He changes front, 
and moves his regiment to gain the hill. The 
two lines are within close musket range. They 
make a parallel movement, firing as they run. 
It is an exciting race. Colonel Cross cheers his 
men, and inspires them with his own untamable 
enthusiasm. He gains the hill, faces his troops 
towards the enemy, and delivers a volley. It 
checks their advance a moment, but, rallied by 
the officers, they rush on, charging up the hill. 
Cross, reinforced by the Highty-first Pennsyl- 
vania, which has followed him, gives the word. 

‘‘ At them, boys!” He leads the counter 
charge. His troops rush down the hill. The 
Rebels do not wait their coming, but break in 
confusion. Another stand of colors, those of 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 251 


Colonel Barlow repulses the Enemy. One o’clock. 


the Fourth North Carolina, and more prisoners, 
are the trophies. 

Again Longstreet tries to drive back the cen- 
tre, and regain the road; and again Barlow re- 
pulses him, charging up through the cornfield, 
almost up to the Hagerstown turnpike, and gain- 
ing Dr. Piper’s house. Vincent’s and Graham’s 
‘batteries gallop to the hills south of Rulet’s, 
wheel into position, and reply to the batteries on 
the hills along the turnpike, north of Piper’s. 
But the Rebel batteries by the church enfilade 
the ground west of the sunken road. Hancock, 
who now commands Richardson’s division, can 
hold his ground, but he cannot advance. Thus 
by one o’clock, Lee has been pushed from his 
advanced lines on the right and on the centre. 
He still holds the rocky ledges in the woods be- 
hind the church ; he maintains his position along 
the turnpike, and holds the lower bridge, where 
Burnside is endeavoring to force a crossing. All 
the while, there is a continuous cannonade by 
Poffenberger’s, by Miller’s, and in front of the 
church. There are occasional volleys of mus- 
ketry, and a rattling fire from the skirmishers. 


GENERAL FRANKLIN’S ARRIVAL. - 


It was past noon when General Franklin’s corps 
arrived upon the field. The troops had marched 
all the morning from Crampton’s Pass. General 


} 


yay BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


Smith’s Division. Gen. Hancock asks for Aid. Seventh Maine. 


Smith’s division was in advance, followed by 
Slocum’s. The corps crossed the Antietam, 
following the line over which Sedgwick had 
marched. 

The Rebels were, at that hour, moving down 
from Sharpsburg to turn Caldwell’s left flank. 
Hancock had just taken command of the division. 
He sent to Franklin for help. He was short of 
artillery. Franklin sent him Hexamer’s battery, 
and two regiments. One of them was the Sev- 
enth Maine, commanded by Major Hyde. They 
were of Hancock’s own brigade. He had tried 
them at Williamsburg, at White-oak Swamp, and 
Malvern. .General Hancock assigned them a 
perilous duty. ‘* The Rebel skirmishers behind 
the hill are picking off our gunners. I want them 
driven from that position,” he said. The regi- 
ment started towards the hill. The Rebels saw 
the movement and commenced a rapid fire. Ma- 
jor Hyde halted, gave a volley and marched on, 
the men loading their muskets as they advanced. 

It was a brave movement. Unsupported by 
other troops, the small body, numbering only one 
hundred and sixty-five men, and fifteen officers, 
struck out boldly towards the enemy. The bat- 
teries on the hills beyond Dr. Piper’s played on 
them. The guns on the hill towards the church 
sent down their shells. The cannon on the knolls 
north of Sharpsburg sent solid shot across the ra- 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. ARS 


Lieutenant Brown. ‘ Pleasanton’s Batterics. 


vine, diagonally through the line. The infantry 
in front of them gave rapid volleys. Shells from 
the Union batteries north of Muma’s, mistaking 
them for Rebels, fired upon them. Yet nota 
man faltered.* 

Once more beneath the terrible storm from foe 
and friend, Major Hyde halts his men, delivers a 
volley, and then with a cheer dashes upon the 
Rebel skirmishers, who are behind a wall, driv- 
ing them back to the main line. Then marching 
by the left flank, seeking the shelter of a hill, 
he keeps up a steady fire. Officers and men 
fight with great bravery. Among the officers is 
Lieutenant Brown. He left the classic halls of 
Bowdoin College when his country called for the 
services of patriots. His captain falls. The 
company show signs of faltering. He springs to 
the front. He is their commander now. 

‘¢ Rally, boys! Rally!” he shouts. But while 
the words are on his lips, he falls, shot through 
the brain.+ 

The Rebels came down in great force, and Ma- 
jor Hyde is obliged to fall back. Hexamer has 
used up his ammunition. He has been of great 
service. Woodruff taks his place. Pleasanton, 
commanding the artillery, brings sixteen guns to 
bear upon the advancing troops. The fire is so 

* Major Hyde’s Report. 

t Maine Adjutant General’s Report, 1862. 


254 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


Franklin moves towards the Field. Irwin’s Brigade. 


steady and effective that the Rebel line retires 
without making an attack. 

While this is taking place on the left, or south 
of Rulet’s, the contest is still raging by Muma’s. 
Hill is making desperate efforts to recover his 
lost ground in the cornfield and the sunken road. 

French has been compelled to fall back into the 
shelter of the ravine.by Muma’s. His men are out 
of ammunition, and unless reinforced must yield. 

It is at this moment that Franklin’s two divis- 
ions move over the field northeast of Muma’s. 
The men are weary with their long marching. 
They have heard the battle echoing along Pleas- 
ant Valley all the morning, and have hastened 
on to aid their comrades. ‘They cross the fields 
with their standards waving. Irwin’s brigade is 
in advance. It pushes through the corner of the 
woods, east of Miller’s cornfield, passes Thomas’s 
battery, and reaches the open field north of 
Muma’s. Hill has a brigade lying upon the 
ground, behind a ledge. Irwin charges them. 
There is a short contest at the ledge. The Rebels 
yield and retreat across the turnpike, followed by 
Irwin. 

The ground slopes gently from the church to 
the east. Jackson’s batteries are where they 
have been all the morning, in the woods behind 
the church. They have full sweep of the field. 
They open upon Irwin, whose right flank is near 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 256 


Irwin falls back. The Vermont Brigade. Franklin orders an Assault. 


the church, on the ground which Howard occu- 
pied in the forenoon. It is an enfilading fire. 
It is impossible for Irwin to advance. He can- 
not remain. He retires a short distance, and his 
men drop upon the ground, sheltered by the 
ridge from the enemy’s batteries, holding their 
position through the remainder of the day. 

The Vermont brigade relieves General French. 
The Rebels have come down into the cornfield 
west of Muma’s, from which they have been 
driven, and are rifling the pockets of the dead 
and wounded. General Smith gives the word. 
The Vermont brigade charges over the ground 
once more, driving the Rebels to the hills along 
the turnpike. 

Slocum’s division relieves Sedgwick’s in the 
woods east of Miller’s. General Franklin, as 
soon as he comes into position, orders an assault. 
Slocum forms his men to make the advance 
across the field where Mansfield and Sedgwick 
have fought. General Sumner is Franklin’s 
superior officer, and he does not think it advis- 
able to attack. He is not always free from 
despondent moods. His own corps has suffered 
severely. Sedgwick has been driven. French 
and Richardson are exhausted. There is a con- 
sultation among the officers commanding the 
corps and divisions and brigades, in the woods, 
in rear of Slocum’s line. Sumner, Franklin, 


256 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


Franklin’s Plan. General McClellan. 


Smith, Slocum, Newton are there; also General 
Hunt, commanding the artillery. 

Franklin wishes to attack with all his force. 
Smith, Slocum, and New‘on second his wishes. 
Sumner alone is opposed. ‘‘My plan is,” said 
General Franklin, “to bring up fifty pieces of 
the reserve artillery, plant them here, rain shells 
upon the enemy for a half hour, and then 
charge with my two divisions, and break their 
line.” 

Gen McClellan visits the field, and directs the 
commanders to hold their positions, but to make 
no attack.” 

Some of the subordinate commanders retire 
gloomily to their commands. They disagree in 
opinion with their commander. They believe 
that the hour has come when the decisive blow 
can be given. As good soldiers, it is their duty 
to obey; but they sit down by the fence in the 
edge of the woods, dissatisfied with the decision 
of General McClellan. The reserve artillery is 
in the field northeast, a few rods distant,—a 
hundred guns. They believe that the time has 
come to use it. ‘They do not like the plan of 
fighting in detachments — Hooker in the morn- 
ing — then Mansfield — then Sedgwick’s division 
—then French, and Richardson, and Burnside — 


* McClellan’s Report, p. 208. 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 257 


Jackson’s Demonstration. Burnside’s Bridge. 


who is separated from the main army, and has a 
hard task assigned him. 

During the afternoon, the Rebels made a dem- 
onstration on the right by Poffenberger’s. It 
was done to cover up their real intentions. I 
was talking with General Howard when an offi- 
cer dashed up. 

“The Rebels are advancing to attack us,” 
said he. | : 

“‘ Let them have the heaviest fire possible from 
the batteries,’ was the reply. 

As I rode towards the batteries on the ridge 
by Poffenberger’s, thirty guns opened their bra- 
zen lips, each piece speaking three times a min- 
ute. The dark gray masses, dimly discerned 
through the woods and among the tasselled corn, 
wavered, staggered, recled, swayed to and fro, 
advanced a few steps, then disappeared. 


GENERAL BURNSIDE’S ATTACK. 


General Burnside’s task was the hardest of 
all. The banks of the river by the lower bridge 
are steep and high, and the land on both sides 
is broken. The road leading to the bridge winds 
down a narrow ravine. The bridge is of stone, 
with three arches. It is twelve feet wide, and 
one hundred and fifty feet long. 

The western bank is so steep that one can 
hardly climb it. Oak-trees shade it. Half-way 

Q 


258 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


The Rebels at the Bridge. Burnside’s Attack. 


up the hill there is a limestone quarry,— excava- 
tions affording shelter to sharpshooters. At the 
top there is a stone wall, a hundred feet above 
the water of the winding stream, and yet so near 
that a stone may be thrown by a strong-armed 
man across the stream. 

A brigade of Rebels, with four pieces of artil- 
lery, guarded the bridge. There were sharp- 
shooters beneath the willows, and in the thick 
underbrush along the bank of the stream. 
There were riflemen in the excavations on the 
hillside and behind the trees. The four cannon 
were behind the wall, with the great body of in- 
fantry in support. The bridge, the hills and 
hollows on the eastern bank, are raked and 
searched in every part by the infantry. 

South of Sharpsburg there are numerous bat- 
teries ready to throw solid shot and shells over 
the heads of the brigade by the bridge. If 
Burnside carries the bridge, there are the heights 
beyond, the ground in front all open, swept and 
enfiladed by batteries arranged in a semicircle, 
supported by A. P. Hill’s and a portion of Long- 
street’s troops. A. P. Hill was not on the 
ground in the morning, but arrived while the 
battle was in progress on the right and centre. 

General Burnside formed his troops on the 
farm of Mr. Rohrbach, with Sturgis’s division on 
the right, Wilcox in the centre, Rodman on the 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 259 


The new Regiments. 


left, and Cox’s division, commanded by Crook, in 
reserve. Benjamin’s battery. of twenty-pounder 
Parrotts, Simmons’s, McMullen’s, Durell’s, 
Clark’s, Muhlenburgh’s, and Cook’s batteries were 
stationed on the hills and knolls of Rohrbach’s 
estate during the night of the 16th. The troops 
lay on their arms, prepared to move whenever 
General McClellan issued the order. 

At daybreak the Rebel batteries on the Sharps- 
burg hills began a rapid fire. The shells fell 
among the troops. Here and there a man was 
struck down, but they maintained their ground 
with great endurance. It was a severe test to 
the new regiments, which never had been under 
fire. It requires strong nerves to lie passive, 
hour after hour, exposed to a cannonade. But 
the men soon learned to be indifferent to the 
screaming of the something unseen in the air. 
They ate their hard tack, and watched the distant 
flashes from the white cloud upon the Sharps- 
burg hills. They talked of the guns, and 
learned to distinguish them by the sound. 

“‘ That is a rifle shot.” 

‘“‘ There comes a shell.” 

‘¢T wonder where that will strike.” 

With such remarks they whiled away the mo- 
ments. 

The Rebel brigade holding the bridge was com- 
manded by General Toombs. ‘Before the arrival 


260. BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


McClellan’s Orders. General Cox. 


of A. P. Hill, the force of the enemy on this part 
of the field was about six thousand. 

So vigorous was Burnside’s attack, that noth- 
ing but the arrival of Hill prevented an irre- 
trievable defeat.* 

Burnside received his orders at ten o’clock.} 
Hooker had been atit allthe morning. Standing 
by his head-quarters, Burnside could see the dark 
lines moving to and fro on Miller’s field. Mans- 
field was going up the slope. Sumner was cross- 
ing the Antietam. The batteries all along the line 
were thundering. 

‘‘ You are to carry the bridge, gain the heights 
beyond, and advance along their crest to Sharps- 
burg, and reach the rear of the enemy,” was 
the order from General McClellan to General 
Burnside. Lasily ordered; not so easily accom- 
-plished. Burnside has less than fourteen thou- 
sand men to accomplish a task harder than that 
assigned to any other commander. He must 
carry the bridge, gain the ridge, then move 
over an open field to attack the heights beyond, 
which are steeper and more easily defended than 
the ledges by the church, or the hills west of the 
sunken road. It is by nature the strongest part 
of the line. 

Burnside’s batteries opened with renewed 


* Charleston Courier’s account of the battle. 
t Burnside’s Testimony. 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 261 


The Eleventh Connecticut. The first Attempt to carry the Bridge. 


vigor. Cox, commanding the corps (Burnside 
commanding the left wing), detailed Colonel 
Kingsbury with the Eleventh Connecticut to act 
as skirmishers, and drive the Rebel sharpshooters 
from the head of the bridge. 

A short distance —a third of a mile — below 
the bridge there is a ford. Rodman’s division 
was ordered to cross at that point, while Crook 
and Sturgis were ordered to carry the bridge. 

The Eleventh Connecticut advanced, winding 
among the hills, deploying in the fields, firing 
from the fences, the trees, and stone walls. But 
from the woods, the quarry, the wall upon the 
crest of the hill, the road upon the western 
bank, they received a murderous fire. Crook’s 
column, which had been sheltered by a ridge, 
marched down the road. The cannon upon the 
opposite bank threw shells with short fuses. The 
column halted and opened fire. Sturgis’s divis- 
ion passed in their rear, and reached the bridge, 
under cover of the hot fire kept up by Crook. 

The Second Maryland and Sixth New Hamp- 
shire charged upon the bridge. Instantly the hill- 
side blazed anew with musketry. There were 
broad sheets of flame from the wall upon the 
crest, where the cannon, double-shotted, poured 
streams of canister upon the narrow passage. 
The head of the column melted in an instant. 
Vain the effort. The troops fell back under 


262 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


McClellan’s second Order. Ferrero’s Brigade. 


cover of the ridge sheltering the road leading to 
Rohrbach’s. 

General McClellan sent an aid to General 
Burnside with the message : — 

‘¢ Assault the bridge and carry it at all haz- 
ards.” 

It was nearly one o’clock before the disposi- . 
tions were all made for another attempt. Ter- 
rero’s brigade, consisting of the Fifty-first New 
York, Fifty-first Pennsylvania, Thirty-fifth and 
Twenty-first Massachusetts, was selected to make 
the decisive attack. 

In Napoleon’s campaigns, the bridge of Lodi 
and the causeway at Arcola, swept by artillery 
and infantry, were carried by the bravery and 
daring and enthusiasm of his troops; but the task 
assigned to Ferrero’s brigade was not a whit 
easier than those historic efforts. The Thirty- 
fifth Massachusetts had been in the service less 
than a month. They were hardy mechanics and 
farmers ; Napoleon’s soldiers were such by profes- 
sion, who had endured the trials, hardships, and 
diseipline of successive campaigns ; but these men, 
gathering in solid column at noon behind the 
ridge, on this September day, had left their 
ploughs and anvils and benches, not because they 
loved military life, or the excitement of battle, 
or the routine of camp life, but because they 
loved their country. The Twenty-first Massa- 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 268 


The Advantage of the Rebels. How will the future Ages regard it? 


chusetts had been with Burnside in North Car- 
olina. Their commander, Colonel Clark, at home, 
was a teacher of youth, accustomed to the lecture- 
room of Amherst; but he had left his crucibles 
and retorts, and the shaded walks of the college 
he loved, and the pleasant society of the beautiful 
town, to serve his country. He was wounded at 

South Mountain, and Major King commanded 
them now. 

The men from New York left their wheat-fields 
and mills, and the men from Pennsylvania their 
coal-mines and foundries, to be citizen soldiers. 
They have not learned the art of war. 

- The troops upon the opposite bank were 
also citizen soldiers, serving the so-called Confed- 
eracy with bravery and valor. They were shel- 
tered by woods, by excavations, by walls’ and 
fences, ravines and hills. They had great ad- 
vantage in position, and confidently expected to 
hold the ground. Their commander could look 
down from his head-quarters on the Sharpsburg 
hills, and behold their gallantry. 

To carry that bridge would be an achievement 
which would have forever a place in the history of 
the nation. Men, when preparing to do a great 
duty, where life and honor are at stake, some- 
times, with clear vision, look down the path of 
ages. The mind asks itself, How will those who 
come after me look upon the work of to-day ? 


264. BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


The second Attempt. The Charge across the Bridge. 


The soul feels the weight of the hour, the respon- 
sibility of the moment, the duty of the instant. 
With the truly brave there can be no faltering 
then, in the face of danger. They can die if 
need be, but they cannot turn from their duty. 
Once more the effort. Simmons plants two of 
his guns to sweep the hillside across the stream. 
The brave and noble Colonel Kingsbury leads 
out his regiment once more. The assaulting, col- 
umn prepare for the decisive movement. They 
fix their bayonets firmly, throw aside their knap- 
sacks and all that encumbers them. 
Allis ready. The signal is given. ‘The Eley- 
enth Connecticut spring to their work. They 
dash down to the river, firing rapidly. Their 
Colonel falls, mortally wounded, but his men 
fight on. Enraged now at their loss, they fight 
to avenge him. The long, dark column is in 
motion. It emerges from the shelter of the 
ridge. Again the hillside and the wall above be- 
come a sheet of flame. Up to the bridge, upon it, 
dash the men in blue, their eyes glaring, their 
muscles iron, their nerves steel. The front rank 
goes down. Men pitch headlong from the para- 
pet into the water. Stones fly from the arches. 
Shells, shrapnel, canister, tear the ranks asun- 
der, but on, to the centre of the bridge and across 
it, with a yell louder than the battle, up the steep 
hillside, creeping, climbing, holding their breath, 


‘* Up to the bridge, upon it, dash the men in blue, their eyes glaring, their muscles iron, their nerves steel.” 


Page 264. 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 265 


The Work accomplished. Burnside’s Position. 


summoning all the heroism of life, all energy, in- 
to one effort, charging with the gleaming bayo- 
net, they drive the Rebels from the bushes, the 
_trees, the quarries, the wall! 

~The work is accomplished. The ground is 
theirs, won from General Toombs, who, before 
the war began, boasted that.the time would come 
when he make call the roll of his slay es on 
Bunker Hill. e 

The Rebels flee in confusion across the field to 
gain the heights nearer the town. Ferrero’s men 
lie down behind the wall and on the hillside, 
under shelter at last. They bathe their fevered 
brows, and satisfy their thirst in the stream, while 
the other divisions of the corps move down from 
_ their positions of the morning. It was gloriously 
done, and the place will be known, forever, in 
history, as the Burnside Bridge. 

General Burnside was now separated from the: 
main army. Longstreet held the hills east of the 
town, and from his batteries there, could partly 
enfilade Richardson on the one hand, and Burn- 
side on the other. His cannon swept the bridge 
on the Boonesboro’ pike. None of McClellan’s 
troops had crossed there. It was nearly two miles 
from Richardson to Burnside. General McClel- 
lan was fearful that Lee would cross the middle 
bridge to the east side of the Antietam and cut 
off Burnside; therefore General Porter’s corps 


266 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


McClellan’s Plan. 


was held in reserve east of the river by the heavy 
guns.* But Lee would have found it a difficult 
task, for Porter’s heavy guns commanded the ap- 
proach to the bridge from the west. If McClellan 
could not cross the bridge because Longstreet’s 
guns swept it, neither could Lee have crossed 
under the fire of Taft, Langner, Von Kleizer, 
Weaver, Weed, and Benjamin. 

The Antietam, a half-mile below Burnside’s 
bridge, makes a sudden curve toward the west. 
It is crossed by one other bridge, at Antietam 
Jron-works, and then joins the Potomac. By 
throwing General Burnside across the Antietam, 
General McClellan designed not to turn the right 
of Lee and gain possession of his only line of re- 
treat to Shepardstown, but to carry the heights, 
then pass along the crest towards the right.— But 
this movement isolated General Burnside from 
the army. He must hold the bridge or be cut off. 
He would be in a cul de sac, a bag with only one 
place of escape, at the Antietam Iron-works. 

When General Lee saw the preparations of 
Burnside. to advance, after having carried the 
bridge, he weakened his left to strengthen his 
right. Hood, who was lying in reserve behind 
Jackson, was sent down. Longstreet moved some 
of his brigades. Jackson made a demonstration 


* McClellan’s Report, p. 207. 
t McClellan’s Report, p. 201. 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 267 


Lee’s Plan. The Divisions in Line. Wilcox’s Position. 


at Poffenberger’s, already noticed, to make 
McClellan fear an attack at that point. 

General Lee intended to do more than merely 
hold his line against Burnside.* By massing his 
troops at Sharpsburg, when Burnside was far 
enough advanced, Lee intended to seize the 
bridge and cut off Burnside’s retreat. 

Burnside’s divisions crossed the stream at the 
bridge and at the ford, and formed for an advance 
upon the heights near the town. Wilcox was on 
the right, supported by Rodman in the centre, 
Scammon’s brigade on the left, and Sturgis in 
rear of Rodman. 

While the troops were crossing and forming, 
Longstreet’s and A. P. Hill’s batteries kept up a 
constant-fire of shells. Clark’s, Durell’s, Cook’s, 
and Simmons’s batteries went across the bridge, 
gained the crest of the hill beyond, came into po- 
sition, and opened fire in reply. 

General Wilcox was on the road leading from 
the bridge to Sharpsburg, which passes up a ra- 
vine. A brook which has its rise beyond the 
town, gurgles by the roadside. Rebel batteries on 
the hills in front of the town enfiladed the ravine, 
sweeping it from the town to the river. There 
was no shelter for the troops while advancing. 
They must take the storm in their faces. 

Neither was there any cover for Rodman, 


* Statement of a Rebel officer after the battle,—a prisoner. 


268 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


The Ground. The Signals. What McClellan can do. 


Sturgis, and Scammon. The ground, from the 
stone wall on the top of the river bank to the 
hills occupied by Hill and Longstreet, was all 
tillage land, — wheat-fields, and pastures, and 
patches of corn. There were fences to throw 
down, hills to climb, all to be done under fire 
from cannon arranged in crescent form, pouring 
down a concentrated fire from the heights. 

The signal officer, upon Elk Ridge, five hun- 
dred feet above the battle-field, beholds all the 
operations of the Rebel army. From his look- 
out, with his telescope, he can sweep the entire 
field. His assistant waves a flag, and an officer, 
with his eye at the telescope by McClellan’s 
head-quarters, reads a message of this import, 
transmitted by the little flag. 

“The Rebels are weakening their left, and 
concentrating their troops upon their right.” 

The officer writes it in his message book, tears 
out the leaf, and hands it to General McClellan. 
He thus knows Lee’s movements, the disposition 
of his forces, as well as if he himself had looked 
from the mountain summit upon the moving 
column. 

He can make a counter movement, if he chooses, 
by weakening his own right to help Burnside, or 
he can throw in Porter’s corps of twelve thou- 
sand strong, to help Burnside, by a dash upon 
the centre, or leave Burnside to struggle against 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 269 


Three o’clock. Rodman’s Advance. 


the superior force in front of him, move Porter 
upon the double quick to the right, unite him 
with Franklin, order up fifty or eighty guns from 
his reserve artillery, gather the brigades of 
Hooker’s, Williams’s, and Sumner’s corps to hold 
the line, while Franklin and Porter, twenty thou- 
sand strong, fall like a thunderbolt upon Jack- 
son, and break him in pieces. He can adopt one 
other plan,— hold what has already been gained. 
He adopts the last, and makes no movement. 

It was three o’clock before Burnside’s troops 
were in position for the advance. The entire 
line moved, Wilcox and Crook up the ravine and 
on both sides of it, Rodman across the fields 
south of the highway, and Scammon ou the 
river bank. 

A. P. Hill, from his position, enfiladed Rod- 
man, who was obliged to change his line of 
march. He severed his right from Wilcox, and 
wheeled towards the southwest. 

He was obliged to make this mancuvre, to 
meet Hill face to face, but it brought upon his 
line an enfilading fire from the cannon and in- 
fantry nearer the town, and it opened a wide gap 
in the line, which Burnside was obliged to fill 
by pushing in Sturgis, — his only reserve. 

The troops move quickly to the attack. Wil- 
cox and Crook sweep all before them. The 
Rebel batteries which have had possession of the 


270 INVASION OF MARYLAND. 


Wilcox right. Hills Troops. 


hills east of the town through the day are com- 
pelled to fall back from knoll to knoll. 

There is a mill by the roadside, a half-mile 
east of the town. The hills opposite the mill on 
the right hand are sharp and: steep. It is about 
half a mile across the fields to the Boonesboro’ 
pike, where Richardson’s left has been struggling 
to gain a foothold. 

The Rebel batteries, which have been thun- 
dering all day from these hillocks between the 
Boonesboro’ road and the highway to Burnside’s 
bridge, have enfiladed Richardson. They have 
answered Taft, and Weber and Porter’s batteries 
upon the east bank of the river; they have 
thrown solid shot almost to the head-quarters of 
General McClellan ; but now, under the resolute 
advance of Wilcox and Crook, they are forced to 
withdraw. 

Rodman meanwhile is wheeling in the open 
field, under a fire from front, right and left, 
pouring hot upon him like the concentrating 
rays of a lens. 

Hill had his own division, consisting of 
Branch’s, Gregg’s, Field’s, Pender’s and Archer’s 
brigades, also Jenkins and Toombs. Hood was 
sent down from the church, and held in reserve.* 

Rodman had Fairchild’s and Harland’s bri- 
gades; Scammon had his own and Ewing’s. 


* Campaign from Texas to Maryland, and Charleston Courier. 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 971 


Scammon’s Advance. The Ninth New York. 


They drove Hill’s first line back upon the second. 
Fairchild ordered a charge. His troops went 
across the field, through the waving corn with a 
huzzah. They faced a destructive fire. One 
shell killed eight men of the Ninth New York. 
The color bearers were shot. The guards fell. 


BurRnNSIDE’s SECOND ATTAOK. 


1 Wilcox’s Division. 

2 Sturgis’s ~ 

38 Rodman’s ‘* 

4 Scammon’s brigade. 

5 Union batteries on ground from 
which the Rebels had been 
driven. 

6 Batteries of heavy guns. 


H A. P. Hill. 

L Part of Longstreet?s command. 
Hd Hood. 

T Toombs’s brigade. 

8 Sharpsburg. 

M Mill. 

R Rohrbach’s house, 


oT2 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


Harland’s Regiment. Burnside’s Message. Porter’s Corps. 


Captain Leboir seized one, Captain Lehay the 
other, and led the regiment up the hill to the 
road leading south from Sharpsburg. They 
found shelter under the wall, and halted. 

The other regiments of the brigade joined 
them. Harland found greater opposition. His 
troops were cut down by a volley from a brigade 
of Rebels lying in a cornfield. They fought a 
while, became confused, crowded together, and 
were forced back. 

General McClellan, from his head-quarters, can 
see all that is going on, for there is an unob- 
structed view of the field. He is with Fitz John 
Porter on the high hill east of the Antietam. 

An officer rides up swiftly. He is Burnside’s 
aid. His horse pants.. 

‘‘T must have more troops and guns. If you 
do not send them I cannot hold my position half 
an hour.” 

That is the message. Fitz John Porter has 
twelve thousand troops. They have been specta- 
tors of the battle through the day. They have 
had breakfast and dinner, and nearly two days 
of rest since their arrival upon the ground. They 
might be a thunderbolt at this moment. Couch’s 
‘and Humphrey’s divisions will be up during the 
night. 

But they are the only reserves present. Slo- 
cum has taken Sedgwick’s place. He has not 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 273 


Reply to Burnside. Message from the Mountain. Burnside recalls his Troops. 


been engaged, and his men stand with ordered 
arms. Shall Porter be put in? McClellan con- 
sults Porter and Sykes, and then replies : — 

‘*«'Tell General Burnside that I will send him 
Miller’s battery. I have no infantry to spare. 
He must hold his ground till dark. Tell him if 
he cannot hold his ground, he may fall back to 
the bridge ; but he must hold that, or all is lost.” 

Porter’s corps and Slocum’s division of Frank- 
lin’s, eighteen thousand men in all, have taken 
no part in the battle. Smith is holding an im- 
portant position. He has made one gallant 
charge, but his troops are ready to fight. There 
are twenty thousand men which can take the 
offensive, and nearly a hundred guns of the 
artillery.* 

The right flank of the Rebels is all but turned. 
Wilcox is close upon the town. Rodman has 
driven Hill, and is holding his ground. Such is 
the condition of affairs as the sun goes down. 

It is useless for Burnside to struggle without 
supports. He fights till the coming on of twilight, 
and then recalls his troops. 

The regiments of Fairchild’s brigade, far up 
on the hillside, upon ground won from the enemy 
by their valor, go back reluctantly. 

“ The men,” says Lieutenant Colonel Kimball, 


*See McClellan’s statement of the number of troops present, 
p- 214, Report. 


274 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


The Close of the Battle. A Review of the Field. 


of the Ninth New York, “ retired in good order, 
at a slow step, and with tears in their eyes, at the 
necessity which compelled them to leave the field 
they had so dearly won.’’* 

It was a necessity. Without reinforcements 
he could not hold his ground, and Lee could 
cut him off if he remained so far from the 
bridge. 

The daylight is dying out. Through the hours 
from early morning the roar of battle has been 
unceasing. Four hundred cannon have shaken 
the earth, and nearly two hundred thousand men 
have struggled for the mastery. .At times the 
storm has lulled a little, like the wind at night, 
then rising again to the fierceness of a tornado. 
In the intervals of the cannonade, low moans 
come up from the hollows, like the wail of the 
night-wind on a lonely shore. 

On the right, through the morning, the fiery 
surges ebbed and flowed, and dashed to and fro, 
now against the ledges in the woods, and now 
against the ridge by Poffenberger’s. They have 
left crimson stains upon .the threshold of the 
church. The sunken road has drunk the blood 
of thousands. The cornfields, changing from the 
green of Summer to the russet of Autumn are 
sprinkled with magenta dyes. The battle is at 
this hour indecisive, but the artillery of both 


* Lieutenant Colonel Kimball’s Report. 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. OTh 


A grand Scene. 


armies put on new vigor as the sun goes down, 
as if each was saying to the other, ‘‘ We are not 
beaten.” 

Once more the firing is renewed. Standing on 
the high hill east of the Antietam, occupied by 
Porter, I can see almost up to Poffenberger’s. 
The batteries upon the hill in rear of his house 
are thundering. Ican see the glimmer of the 
flashes, and the great white cloud rising above 
the trees, by Miller’s. And there in the cornfield, 
Porter’s, Williston’s, and Walcott’s batteries are 
pounding the ledges behind the church, and 
sweeping the hillside. The woods which shade 
the church where Jackson stands, are smoking 
like a furnace. Richardson’s batteries, in front 
of Lee, are throwing shells into the cornfield be- 
yond Rulet’s. 

The twenty-pounder Parrotts on the hill by my 
side open once more their iron lips. The hills all 
around Sharpsburg are flaming with Rebel guns. 
The sharpshooters all along the line keep up a 
- rattling fire. Near the town, hay-stacks, barns, 
and houses are in flames. At my left hand, Burn- 
side’s heavy guns, east of the river, are at work. 
His lighter batteries are beyond the bridge. His 
men are along the hillside, a dark line, dimly 
seen, covered by a bank of cloud, illuminating 
it with constant flashes. All the country is 
flaming, smoking, and burning, as if the last 


276 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


Sunset. The Evening. 


great day, the judgment day of the Lord had 
come. 7 

Gradually the thunder dies away. The flashes 
are fewer. The musketry ceases, and silence 
comes on, broken only by an occasional volley, 
and single shots, like the last drops after a 
shower. 

Thirty thousand men, who in the morning 
were full of life, are bleeding at this hour. The 
sky is bright with lurid flames of burning build- 
ings, and they need no torches who go out upon 
the bloody field to gather up the wounded. 
Thousands of bivouac fires gleam along the hill- 
sides, as if a great city had lighted its lamps. 
Cannon rumble along the roads. Supply wag- 
ons come up. Long trains of ambulances go by. 
Thousands of slightly wounded work their way 
to the rear, dropping by the roadside, or finding 
a bed of straw by wheat-stacks and in stables. 
There is the clatter of hoofs, — the cavalry 
dashing by, and the tramp, tramp, tramp of 
Couch’s and Humphrey’s divisions, marching to 
the field. 

There are low wails of men in distress, and 
sharp shrieks from those who are under the sur- 
geon’s hands. 

While obtaining hay for my horse at a barn, I 
heard the soldiers singing. They were wounded, 
but happy; for they had done their duty. They 


BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. QTT 


The Songs of the Soldiers. Thoughts of Home. 


had been supplied with rations, — hard tack and 
coffee, —and were lying on their beds of straw. 
I listened to their song. It was about the dear 
old flag. 


“Our flag is there! Our flag is there! 
We'll hail it with three loud huzzahs ! 
Our flag is there! Our flag is there! 
Behold the glorious stripes and stars! 
Stout hearts have fought for that bright flag, 
Strong hands sustained it mast-head high, 
And oh! to see how proud it waves 
Brings tears of joy to every eye. 


«That flag has stood the battle’s roar, 
With foemen stout and foemen brave; 
Strong hands have sought that flag to lower, 
And found a traitor’s speedy grave. 
That flag is known on every shore, 
The standard of a gallant band, 
Alike unstained in peace or war, 
It floats o’er Freedom’s happy land.” 


Then there came thoughts of home, of loved 
ones, of past scenes, and pleasant memories, and 
the songs become plaintive. They sung the old 
song : — 

“Do they miss me at home — do they miss me 

At morning, at noon, or at night ? 

And lingers a gloomy shade round them, 
That only my presence can light ? 

Are joys less invitingly welcome, 
And pleasures less bright than before, 

Because one is missed from the circle, — 
Because I am with them no more? 


278 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 


Thoughts of Home. 


There was sadness, but not discouragement. 
It was the welling up of affection, the return of 
sweet recollections, which neither hardship, suf- 
fering, privation, or long absence could efface. 
They loved home, but they loved the old flag 
better. Missed at home? Ah! how sadly! 


CHAPTER XIIT. 


AFTER THE BATTLE. 


Lee’s Army. McClellan’s Army. 


HE army commanded by General Lee in the 
battle, according to Pollard, the Southern 
historian, numbered seventy thousand. General 
McClellan states in his report that it was ninety- 
seven thousand. His estimate was made up 
from information obtained from deserters, spies, 
and prisoners : — 


Jackson’s corps, . : : ° : 24,778 
Longstreet’s corps, . ° : : 23,342 
DELVE, . . : ‘ ; 15,525 
Stuart, . : ; ° ‘ : : 6,400 
Ransom and Jenkins, . ‘ . ‘ 3,000 
Detached regiments, , : ° ° 18,400 
Artillery, 400 guns, h : : - 6,000 
97,445 

General McClellan’s forces were : — 
lst corps, Hooker’s, : : : : 14,856 
2d « Sumner’s, ; é ; : 18,813 
5th “ Porter’s, . : ; . : 12,930 
6th “« Franklin’s, ‘ : . 12,300 
9th “ Burnside’s, : : : 13,819 
12th « Mansfield’s, . : 2 3 10,126 
Cavalry, . ° ; A . 4,320 


87,164 


280 AFTER THE BATTLE. 


The Losses. McClellan’s Reinforcements. 


Each division had its own artillery, which is 
enumerated in the above statement. 

There were twelve thousand four hundred and 
sixty-nine killed, wounded, and missing from 
McClellan’s army in this battle. About two 
thousand of them were killed, and nine thousand 
five hundred missing. 

The Rebel loss is supposed to have been about 
fifteen thousand. 

Thirteen guns, fifteen thousand small arms, six 
thousand prisoners, and thirty-nine colors were 
taken from the Rebels at Antietam, South Moun- 
tain, and Crampton’s Pass. 

The army expected a renewal of the attack on 
the morning of the 18th. ° It was a beautiful day. 
Two divisions, Couch’s and Humphrey’s, had ar- 
rived, which, with Porter’s corps and Slocum’s 
division of Franklin’s, were fresh. Smith had 
been engaged but a short time on the 17th. 
There were nearly thirty-five thousand troops 
which could be relied upon for a vigorous attack. 
The reserve artillery could be brought in. There 
were several thousand Pennsylvania militia at 
Hagerstown, not of much account for fighting, 
but which could be used for train guards. 

‘¢ Whether to renew the attack on the 18th, or to 
defer it, even with the risk of the enemy’s retire- 
ment, was the question with me,” says General 
McClellan. 


AFTER THE BATTLE. 281 


Why he did not renew the Attack. Opinions of the Generals. 


He deliberated, and decided not to attack for 
the reasons, that, if he lost the battle, Lee could 
march on Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, 
and New York, without an enemy to oppose him, 
living on the country ; the troops were tired ; and 
the supply trains were in the rear. Sedgwick’s 
division and MHooker’s corps were somewhat 
demoralized and scattered. Sumner thought 
Sedgwick’s division could not be relied upon to 
attack the enemy vigorously. Meade, command- 
ing Hooker’s corps, said his troops could resist 
better than make an attack. The efficiency of 
the troops was good as far as it went. 

‘‘The morale of some of the new troops un- 
der Burnside was impaired,” says General Mc- 
Clellan.* 

“¢ My command was in good condition, holding 
its position on the opposite side of Antietam. 
One brigade, had been severely handled, but I 
considered it in fighting condition,” says General 
Burnside.t 

General McClellan expected fourteen thousand 
more men, and taking all things into considera- 
tion he decided not to renew the attack. 

General Lee’s army had seen great hardship. 
The Rebels had marched from Richmond. ‘“ One 
fifth of them were barefoot, one half of them in 
rags, and the whole of them famished,”’ writes 


* Report, p. 212. } Burnside’s Testimony, p. 642. 


282 AFTER THE BATTLE. 


Condition of Lee’s Army. A Ride along the Lines. 


Pollard the Southern historian.* Lee was far from 
his supplies. He had no reinforcements at hand. 
His troops were much exhausted. A. P. Hill had 
marched with great rapidity from Harper’s Ferry. 
Jackson’s corps had suffered as severely as Hook- 
er’s. D.H. Hill had lost more than Sedgwick. 
Longstreet could hardly be a match for French, 
Richardson, and the whole of Franklin’s corps. 
Lee, if defeated, had a great river in his rear 
which must be crossed at one ford, which would 
give McClellan the shortest line to Richmond. 
Sigel was in front of Washington. Heintzelman 
was at Alexandria. Keyes was at Yorktown. 
Could not these forces cut off his retreat to Rich- 
mond? Hewasina perilous situation. He sent 
his wounded across the Potomac to Martinsburg 
and Winchester,—also his wagons, and made 
preparations for a rapid movement of his army 
into Virginia. 

Karly in the morning I rode to the right, came 
upon the line by Poffenberger’s. Rations had 
been served; and the troops were in position, ex- 
pecting orders to move. 

Colonel Andrews, commanding Gordon’s brig- 
ade in Mansfield’s corps, was riding along the 
line. ‘How are your men, Colonel ?” 

“ All right. They had a pretty hard time yes- 
terday; but having had a good breakfast, they 


* Vol. IL, p. 142. 


AFTER THE BATTLE. 283 


Noon. At Sunset. 


feel well. We expect to advance in a few mo- 
ments.”’ 

I talked with the soldiers. ‘‘ We gave them a 
good thrashing yesterday, and mean to drive them 
into the Potomac to-day,” said one. The sharp- 
shooters were lying in the field in front of the 
church. All were ready. 

At noon, I rode once more along the lines. 
Some of the batteries which had exhausted their 
ammunition in the battle had refilled their cais- 
sons, and were waiting orders to take position. 
The gunners were lying on the ground. 

*¢ Do you think there will be a battle to-day?” 
I asked an officer. 

‘© O, yes. We shall be at it in a few minutes. 
We are all ready.” 

One o’clock, — the wounded men were all re- 
moved. The flag of truce had been taken down. 

Two o’clock, — and no order to begin the at- 
tack. Officers were impatient. They wondered 
at the delay. I rode to Elk Ridge, and went up 
the mountain’s side. Beyond Sharpsburg there 
was a cloud of dust. Baggage wagons were 
moving west. Lee’s troops were in line, where 
they had been in the morning, but there were 
some indications of a retreat. 

At sunset, I looked once more from the moun- 
tain. The evidences had increased that Lee in- 
tended to cross the Potomac. 


284 AFTER THE BATTLE. 


Lee’s Retreat. Ride over the Field. ‘*The Valley of the Shadow of Death.” 


The morning of the 19th dawned. Lee was 
gone! He took away all his artillery, except one 
iron gun and some disabled caissons and wagons. 

Riding now over all the field, I found many 
Rebel dead in the woods by the church. Among 
them were bodies clothed in the Union blue, 
lying where they fell, close up to the Rebel line. 

There was one soldier whose pulse was forever 
still, whose eyes looked straight toward the sky. 
The ground was stained with his blood, which 
had flowed from a wound in his breast. Upon 
his countenance there was a pleasant smile, and 
a brightness as if a ray of glory had fallen upon 
him from heaven. His Bible was open upon his 
heart. I read: — 

“The Lord is my shepherd ; I shall not want. 
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures ; 
he leadeth me beside the still waters. He re- 
storeth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths 
of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, 
though I walk through the valley of the shadow 
of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with 
me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.” 

I could not discover his name. He was un- 
known to the living. He belonged to a New 
York regiment, that was all I could learn. 
Doubtless the Lord was with him when he passed 
through the valley. 

The slaughter had been terrible in the sunken 


’ AFTER THE BATTLE. 285 


The Sunken Road. Sharpsburg. Talk with a Rebel Officer. 


road, where French and Richardson had charged. 
Across the fences, twenty thousand muskets had 
flashed. Williston’s, Walcott’s, Owen’s, and 
Ayer’s batteries had made terrible havoc in the 
ranks of Hill. Some of the enemy had fallen 
towards the advancing columns; some were 
lying across the fence behind them, shot while 
endeavoring to escape; some were killed while 
loading their guns; one while tearing the cart- 
ridge with his teeth. He had died instantly, and 
the cartridge was in his hand. 

There was an officer still grasping his sword. 
He had fallen while cheering his men, with all 
his muscles set, his nerves under tension, the 
word of command on his lips. It was a fearful 
sight along that road. It was as if a mighty 
mower had swept them down at a single stroke. 

Sharpsburg was full of Rebel wounded. I 
conversed with an officer of Walker’s com- 
mand. | 

‘‘T have been in all the battles before Rich- 
mond and at Manassas, but I never experienced 
such a fire as you gave us yesterday,” he said. 

‘“‘ T noticed that you lost heavily at the sunken 
road.” 

‘“ Yes. It was a terrible slaughter. We 
could n’t keep our ranks closed, and if your 
troops had pressed on they might have broken 
through our line.” 


286 AFTER THE BATTLE. 


The Invasion ended. 


‘‘They came pretty near it as it was, did they 
not?” 

‘‘Yes. We were all tired out. We got up 
from Harper’s Ferry on the morning of the bat- 
tle. We had no supper Tuesday, marched all 
night, had no breakfast, and went right into the 
fight as soon as we reached the field. We have 
lived on green corn and apples half of the time © 
since we left Richmond. Half of our men are 
barefoot. We were in no condition to fight. © 
We wondered that McClellan did not renew the 
battle yesterday. We expected it.” 

General McClellan was at the hotel, looking 
careworn and troubled. Lee was beyond his 
reach. The army was pouring through the 
town. Some soldiers cheered him as they passed, 
while others expressed their dissatisfaction be- 
cause Lee had escaped. 

The invasion of the North was ended. Neither 
Washington nor Baltimore had fallen into the 
hands of the Rebels. Lee had not dictated terms 
of peace in Independence Square. Maryland 
had not responded to the call to join the Con- 
federacy. 

The dreams indulged at the South of an upris- 
ing of the people of the State had proved delu- 
sive. Lee had captured Harper’s Ferry through 
the incompetency of the commander of the place. 
That was the only material advantage gained. 


AFTER THE BATTLE. 287 


Lee at Winchester. His Supplies. 


He had won a victory at Groveton, through the 
treasonable failure of General Porter to join 
General Pope, and the tardiness of General 
McClellan’s withdrawal from the Peninsula, but 
had been defeated at South Mountain and An- 
tietam. 

General Lee retreated to Martinsburg and Win- 
chester to rest his exhausted troops. General Mc- 
Clellan marched to Harper’s Ferry and Berlin, 
on the Potomac, and went into camp. Lee could 
not take the offensive. His troops were worn 
and disheartened. They had marched with great 
rapidity ; fought at Groveton; had moved on 
to Maryland; fought, some of them at South 
Mountain, others at Harper’s Ferry; had lived 
on short rations, making up the lack of food 
with green corn. They were barefoot and rag- 
ged. They slept witlfout tents or blankets. They 
were exposed to all the storms. The men of 
Georgia and Alabama and Texas shivered with 
the ague in the keen air of the mountains through 
the October nights. Some of them, for the first 
time in their lives, beheld the beautiful spangles 
of the hoar-frosts. At Winchester, in the heart 
of one of the loveliest and most fertile valleys in 
America, they were in want of food. Lee seized 
all the forage and provisions he could find among 
the farmers. He was obliged to wagon his sup- 
plies from Culpepper, eighty miles distant, over 


288 AFTER THE BATTLE. 


McClellan’s Plan. President Lincoln visits the Army. 


roads which became muddy after a_half-hour’s 
rain. 

General McClellan, on the other hand, received 
his supplies by rail within a mile or two of his 
camp. He thought that the army was not in 
condition to undertake another campaign; nor to 
bring on another battle, unless it had great ad- 
vantages over the enemy. 

‘‘ My present purpose,’ he wrote to General 
Halleck on the 27th, ‘‘is to hold the army about 
as it is now, rendering Harper’s Ferry secure, and 
watching the river closely, intending to attack the 
enemy should he attempt to cross.” 

President Lincoln visited the army, and urged 
General McClellan to attack Lee. There was a 
favorable opportunity. Large reinforcements had 
been received, and the troops were in good spirits ; 
the weather was favorable. Lee was far from his 
supplies ; his army was smaller than McClellan’s. 
But General McClellan was not disposed to move. 
On the 6th of October, he received orders from 
General Halleck to cross the Potomac and give 
battle to the enemy, or drive him south. ‘ You 
must move while the roads are good,” was the 
telegram. 

Some of the troops needed clothing, and were 
in want of shoes. The cavalry were deficient of 
horses. Complaint was made that supplies were 
withheld. 


AFTER THE BATTLE. 289 


McClellan’s Reasons for not moving. Stuart’s Raid. The President’s Letter. 


‘‘The railroads are now embarrassed to supply 
you; and supplies here wait for the return of 
cars detained while loaded near your position,” 
was the telegram of General Meigs from Wash- 
ington. 

On the 10th of October, General Stuart with 
two thousand Rebel cavalry crossed the Potomac, 
near the town of Hancock; visited Chambersburg, 
Pennsylvania, turned toward the east, rode round 
McClellan’s army, and escaped with little loss 
into Virginia. General McClellan’s plans for his 
capture failed. The army was mortified, and the 
people indignant ; but the raid, although nothing 
came of it, gave great pleasure to the Rebels. 

President Lincoln sent a friendly letter to 
General McClellan. 

“ You remember,” he wrote, “‘ my speaking to 
you, of what I called your. over-cautiousness. 
Are you not over-cautious when you assume, 
that you cannot do what the enemy is constantly 
doing? Should you not claim to be, at least, his 
equal in power, and act upon the claim? As I 
understand, you telegraph General Halleck, that 
you cannot subsist your army at Winchester, 
unless the railroad from Harper’s Ferry to that 
point be put in working order. But the enemy 
does now subsist his army at Winchester, at a 
distance twice as great from railroad transporta- 


tion as you would have to do without the railroad 
13 s 


290 AFTER THE BATTLE. 


The President’s Letter. His Argument. How he would act. 


last named. Again, one of the standard maxims of 
war, as you know, is to operate upon the enemy’s 
communications as much as possible without ex- 
posing your own. You seem to act as if this 
applies against you, but cannot apply in your 
favor. Change positions with the enemy, and 
think you not, he would break your communica- 
tions with Richmond within the next twenty- 
four hours? You dread his going into Pennsyl- 
vania. But if he does so in full force, he gives 
up his communications to you absolutely, and 
you have nothing to do but to follow and ruin 
him ; if he does so with less than full force, fall 
upon and beat what is left behind all the easier. 
. . . You know, I desired but did not order you 
to cross the Potomac below, instead of above, the 
Shenandoah and Blue Ridge. My idea was, that 
this would at once menace the enemy’s com- 
munications, which I would seize, if he would 
permit. If he should move northward, I would 
follow him closely, holding his communications. 
If he should prevent our seizing his communica- 
tions and move toward Richmond, I would press 
closely to him, fight him, if a favorable oppor- 
tunity should present, and at least try to beat 
him to Richmond on the inside track.” 

“IT say ‘try.’ If we never try we never shall 
succeed. If he make a stand at Winchester, 
moving neither north nor south, I would fight 


AFTER THE BATTLE. 291 


The Forces at McClellan’s Disposal. Colonel Ingalls’s Telegram. 


him there, on the idea that if we cannot beat him 
when he bears the wastage of communication to 
us, we never can when we bear the wastage of 
going to him. ‘This proposition is a simple truth, 
and is too important to be lost sight of for a 
moment. 

‘‘As we must beat him somewhere, or fail finally, 
‘we can do it, if at all, easier near us, than far 
away. If we cannot beat the enemy where he 
now is, we never can, he again being within the 
intrenchments of Richmond.” * 

The army numbered one hundred and twenty- 
three thousand men present and fit for duty. If 
General McClellan moved east of the Blue Ridge 
he was to receive thirty-five thousand reinforce- 
ments from Washington, making a total of about 
one hundred and sixty thousand.t Lee’s army 
was supposed to number about eighty thousand. 

General McClellan still delayed to advance. 
“The troops are in want of clothing,” he said. 
But the chief quartermaster of the army cleared 
the government from all blame. ‘* You have al- 
ways very promptly met all my requirements. I 
foresee no time when an army of over one hundred 
thousand men will not call for clothing and other 
articles,’ was the telegram of Colonel Ingalls to 
General Meigs. 

Among the wounded in the hospitals at Antie- 


* President’s Letter. + Adjutant General’s Report. 


292 AFTER THE BATTLE. 


Hospital Scenes. The Baptism. 


tam was a young soldier of the Nineteenth Mas- 
sachusetts. He was an only child of his parents. 
He had been kindly nurtured, and knew nothing 
of hardship till he enlisted in the army. He was 
very patient. He had no word of complaint. He 
trusted in Jesus, and had no fearof death. His 
mother came from her Massachusetts home to see 
him. 

“Do you know that we think you cannot re- 
cover?” said the chaplain one day to him. It 
did not startle him. 3 

‘JT am safe. Living or dying, I am in God’s 
hands,” he calmly replied. | 

‘¢ Are you not sorry, my son, that you entered 
the army, and left home to suffer all this?” his 
mother asked. 

‘‘O mother, how can you ask me such a ques- 
tion as that? . You know lam not sorry. I loved 
my country, and for her cause I came,” he replied. 

He wanted to be baptized. It was Sabbath 
morning. The soldier lay upon a stretcher, and 
the weeping mother knelt by his side, — her only 
child. There was some water in his canteen. 
The chaplain poured it upon his marble brow, 
where death was soon to set his seal, and baptized 
him in the name of the Father, ‘Son, and Spirit. 
Thus trusting in God and loving his country, he 
passed into a better life.* 


* Report Christian Commission. 


AFTER THE BATTLE. 298 


The Soldier’s last Song. 


There was another soldier who had been wound- 
ed in the leg. Mortification set in. The sur- 
geons told him it must be amputated. He knew 
there was little chance for him to live, but calmly, 
as if lying down to slumber, he went to the am- 
putating table, singing cheerfully, as if he were 
on the threshold of heaven: 

«There ’ll be no sorrow there! 


In heayen above, where all is love, 
There ’ll be no sorrow there.” 


He took the chloroform, became insensible. 
The limb was taken off. He never knew his loss, 
for after.a few hours of drowsy, half-waking 
slumber, his spirit passed away. 


CHAPTER XIV. 


THE MARCH FROM HARPER’S FERRY TO WARRENTON. 


Zagonyi’s Charge at Springfield. 


HE month of October passed. Pontoons were 
finally laid across the Potomac. They were 
down several days before the enemy moved, and 
General Lee, through his scouts and spies, un- 
doubtedly had information of what was going on. 
The army commenced crossing on the 27th, but 
the divisions were not all over till the 1st of No- 
vember. Lee had moved a week before, and was 
at Culpepper, with the exception of his rear-guard, 
Stuart’s cavalry, and a force in the Shenandoah 
Valley. 

Up to this period of the war there had been but 
few brilliant cavalry achievements on either side. 
At Springfield, Missouri, Zagonyi, with his fearless 
riders, had cut their way through the hosts which 
surrounded them. It was gloriously done. The 
cavalry, with the army of the Potomac on the 
Peninsula, had accomplished nothing worthy of 
mention. 

General Stuart, commanding the Rebel cavalry, 


THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 295 


Pleasanton’s Cavalry. Movement on Snicker’s Gap. 


had audaciously rode round General McClellan’s 
army at the Chickahominy and at Harper’s Fer- 
ry. On the march from Berlin to Warrenton, 
General Pleasanton commanded the Union 
cavalry. He had the advance in the line of 
march. General Stuart covered the retreat of 
Lee. Day after day, from morning till night, 
there was an interchange of shots by the flying 
artillery of both armies,— Stuart holding his 
ground till Pleasanton’s fire became too hot, then 
limbering up his guns, and retiring a mile to a 
new position. 

The Rebels had not all left the Shenandoah 
Valley. But a force of ten thousand men re- 
mained there prepared to pass through the gaps 
of the Blue Ridge, and fall on McClellan’s 
rear, if he left it exposed. General Hancock’s 
division of Porter’s corps, which was nearest the 
Blue Ridge, or which held the right of the army, 
in its march, moved upon Snicker’s gap. Arriv- . 
ing at the top and looking westward, there was 
a beautiful panorama; the town of Winches- 
ter, its white houses and church spires gleaming 
in the November sun; the trees yet wearing their 
gorgeous livery; the numerous camp-fires of the 
enemy on the western bank of the Shenandoah; 
the blue smoke rising in columns and spirals to 
the clouds, the troops of the enemy moving 
with their long baggage trains towards the south. 


296 THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 


Captain Pettit’s Firing. Colonel Sargent. The Order. 


Captain Pettit wheeled his Parrott guns into 
position on the top of the mountain, and sighted 
the guns. The first shell exploded in the Rebel 
line. In an instant, evidently without waiting 
for orders, the men took to their heels, disappear- 
ing in the woods. An unexpected shot some- 
times unnerves old soldiers, who never think of 
shrinking from duty on the battle-field. 

On the ridge west of the Shenandoah, two 
Rebel batteries were in position, with jets of white | 
smoke bursting from the cannon in quick dis- 
charges. There was a small body of Rebels east 
of the river. Colonel Sargent, commanding the 
First: Massachusetts cavalry, was ordered to drive 
them across the river. His troops deployed 
in the open field. At the word of command, 
they dashed down the hill, supported by a de- 
tachment of General Sykes’s infantry. The 
Rebel cavalry did not wait their charge, but 
fled across the Shenandoah. 

‘‘ Advance skirmishers!” was the order of 
Colonel Sargent. He had no intention of mov- 
ing his whole detachment to the river bank, but 
only his skirmishers. : 

The cavalry and infantry misunderstood the 
order. Their blood was up. Away they went 
with a hurrah down to the river-bank. The 
houses on the other side were full of Rebel in- 
fantry. Two cannon commanded the ford, and 
swept it with canister. 


THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 297 


The Mistake. Captain Pratt. 


‘Down! down!” shouted Colonel Sargent. 
He meant that the soldiers should fall upon the 
ground, and not expose themselves to the ter- 
rible fire which was coming upon them. They 
thought that he would have them rush down the 
steep bank and cross the stream, and with wilder 
enthusiasm — that which sometimes comes to 
men when in the greatest danger — they went 
down to the water’s edge; some of them into 
the stream. There they saw their mistake, but 
they faced the storm awhile, and gave volley 
for volley, although ordered back by their com- 
mander. 

Six or eight were killed, and thirty wounded, 
during the few moments they were there. 

Among the killed was the brave Captain Pratt, 
of the cavalry, shot through the heart. His 
pulse had just ceased its beating as I stood over 
him. The blood, still warm, was flowing from 
the wound. His countenance was calm and 
peaceful. He had died while doing his duty, — 
a duty he loved to perform, for he felt that he 
could not do too much for his country : — 

“Wrap round him the banner, 
It cost him his breath, 
He loved it in life, 
Let it shroud him in death. 


Let it silently sweep in its gorgeous fold 
O’er the heart asleep, and the lips that are cold.” 


13 * 


298 THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 


The Fight at Markham. General Ashby. 


Having secured Snicker’s Gap, Pleasanton 
pushed on to Piedmont and Markham, pleasant 
places on the Manassas Gap Railroad. Markham 
is nestled easily at the foot of the mountain, where 
the railroad begins its long, steep gradient to 
reach the summit of the gap. At this place, 
Stuart planted his guns, and a_spirited engage- 
ment took place. 

Pleasanton dismounted his cavalry, and ad- 
vanced them as infantry, and drove Stuart, who 
retreated a mile, made another stand, and was 
again driven. The last fight took place in front 
of a pretty farm-house, occupied by a near rela- 
tive of the Rebel General Ashby, who com- 
manded a body of cavalry in 1861, and who was 
killed in Western Virginia. He was the boldest 
of all the Southern horsemen. He trained his 
horses to leap a five-barred gate. He could pick 
a handkerchief from the ground while his horse 
was upon a run. He was dashing, brave, and 
gallant, and a great favorite with the Southern 
ladies, who called him the bold cavalier. 

After the battle, my friend and I visited the 
farm-house. Our appetites were keen, and we 
wanted dinner. 

I found the owner at the door. 

‘¢ Can I obtain dinner for myself, and oats for 
my horse ?”’ was the question. 

‘Yes, sir, I reckon. That is, if my wife is 


THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 299 


Roast Turkey. The Hostess. 


willing. She don’t like Yankees very well. Be- 
sides, the soldiers have stolen all our poultry, 
with the exception of one turkey, which she is 
going to have for dinner.” 

Roast turkey in old Virginia, after weeks of 
hard-tack and pork, was a dinner worth having. 

‘¢ Please tell your wife that, although Iam a 
Yankee, I expect to pay for my dinner.” 

A conference was had in-doors, resulting in an 
affirmative answer to my request. 

A friend was with me. The cloth was laid, 
and a little colored girl and boy brought in from 
time to time the things for the table. At last, 
there came the turkey, done to a nice brown, 
steaming hot from the oven, filling the room 
with a flavor refreshing to a hungry man, after 
the events of the morning. The hostess made 
her appearance, entering like a queen in stateli- 
ness and dignity. She was tall, and in the prime 
of womanhood. Her eyes were jet. They shone 
upon us like electric flashes. Her greeting was 
a defiance. Seated at the table, she opened the 
conversation. 7 

“I should like to know what you are down 
here for, stealing our chickens and niggers ?” 

It was the first gun of the battle,— a rifle 
shot. Without any skirmishing, she had opened 
battery. 7 

‘¢ Your Union soldiers, your thieves and raga- 


300 THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 


The Conversation. Southern Hatred of the Yankees. 


muffins, have stolen all my chickens and turkeys, 
and I had to kill this one to save it. And you 
have run off my niggers. I should have lost this 
turkey if I had not aimed a pistol at the soldier 
who was about to take it. I threatened to shoot 
him, and the coward sneaked off.” 

“ Our generals do not permit depredations 
upon private citizens, when they can help it, but 
there are thieves in all armies,”’ was the reply. 

‘“O, yes; it is very well for you to apologize! 
But you are all thieves. General Geary’s men, 
when they were here, stole all they could lay 
their hands on, and so did Blenker’s, and so do 
McClellan’s. You want to steal our niggers. 
We never should have had this war if you had 
minded your own business, and let our niggers 
alone.” 

‘“‘T am not aware that we stole your negroes 
before the war, but, on the contrary, our free 
citizens of the North were kidnapped, and sold 
into Slavery. South Carolina began the war by 
firing on the flag. It was the duty of President 
Lincoln to defend it.”’ 

‘‘Lincoln! old Lincoln! He’s an ape. I 
would shoot him if I could have the chance!” 


“That would be a tragedy worth writing up 


for the papers. You would immortalize your 
name by the act. You would go down to his- 
tory. The illustrated papers would have sketches 


—.- 


THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 801 
The Explosion. 


> 


of the thrilling scene,” said my friend with pro- 
voking good humor. 

** Yes, you would do just as you have done for 
twenty years, — get up lying pictures and stories 
about the South. You are a pack of liars. You 
think you are going to crush us, but you won’t. 
Never, nevert We will fight till the last man, 
woman, and child are dead before we will sur- 
render !”’ 

She was at a white heat of passion, pale and 
trembling with rage, the tears fora moment hid- 
ing the lightning flashes of her eyes. 

‘* My dear madam, we may as well understand 
each other first as last. The people of the North 
have made up their minds to crush this rebellion. 
They have counted the cost, and the war will go 
on till every man, woman, and child in the South 
are exterminated, unless they yield. We are 
several millions more than you, and we shall 
conquer you.” 

‘¢ Never, — never, — never, — never, — never, — 
never ! — Never ! — Never! — Never!” 

It was a sudden outburst of passion and de- 
fiance; a sudden explosion, like the howl of a 
bulldog. All of her energy, hate, and bitterness 
was thrown into the word. Her lip quivered; her 
cheek put on a sudden whiteness. I was prepared 
to see the carving-knife hurled across the table, 
or a dish of gravy dashed in my face. She could 


302 THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 


Her ‘Opinions. What my Friend said. 


utter only the one word—never! After the 
whirlwind, there was a shower of tears. Then 
she regained her composure. 

“You out-number us, but you can’t subdue 
us. Never! never! We are a superior people. 
We belong to a high-born race. You are a set 
of mean, sneaking Yankees.” 

My brother-correspondent informed the lady 
that he had lived in the South; had travelled 
from Maryland to Savannah, Mobile and New 
Orleans many times, and was well acquainted 
with Southern society in all its aspects; and that 
the people of the South could lay no claim to 
superiority, unless it was in following the ex- 
ample of the patriarchs — sustaining the system 
of concubinage, and selling their own children 
into slavery.” 

A blush overspread her features. She knew 
that the assertion was true. But notwithstanding 
this home-thrust, she continued: ‘“* We are not 
half so bad as you represent us to be. You 
Yankees, from Massachusetts and Vermont, who 
go down South, do nothing but lie about us.” 

“Tam not from Massachusetts, madam,” said 
my friend, ‘I am a Pennsylvania Dutchman. 
I was born in Lancaster, and am well acquainted 
with your friend, James Buchanan.” 

‘You Pennsylvanians are the meanest of all 
Yankees. You are an ignorant set. You live. 


THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 303 


How the Talk ended. 


on cabbage and sour-krout. You are a mean, 
stupid set of thieves as ever lived. General 
Geary’s men stole all my cabbages. I hope both 
of you will be captured and put in prison. I 
hope you will get shot. If you will stay here 
to-night, I will have both of you on your way to 
Richmond before morning. There is a brigade 
of Rebels up in the gap.” 

“ We are aware of that, and do not doubt, 
madam, that you would hand us over to them if 
you could, but we will keep our eyes open.” 

It was somewhat hazardous to get dinner so 
near a large body of Rebels, with no Union 
troops near at hand, but the flavor of roast 
turkey, after weeks of camp fare, was not to be 
resisted under the circumstances. | 

It would require much space to give a full re- 
port of our “table talk” on that occasion. It 
was rare and entertaining. But the dinner over, 
and our bills paid to the satisfaction of host and 
hostess, I said : — 

*T hope that you will be delivered from the 
horrors of war. Ido not wish you to suffer, but 
Ido hope that those who have caused the war, 
. who are now in arms, will be speedily crushed ; 
and when the conflict is over, I hope we shall meet 
under more auspicious circumstances.” 

The storm of passion had subsided. “TI beg 
your pardon, sir. You have treated me like 


304 THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 


Barbee’s Cross-Roads. The old Tavern. 


gentlemen, and I have acted like a fool,’’ she 
replied, extending her hand, and we parted good 
friends. There was, after all, a tender place in 
her heart. 

After dinner we rode on again. Stuart, in- 
stead of passing through the gap, had turned 
south along a rough and rocky road. Six miles 
below Markham, he made another stand at a place 
called Barbee’s cross-roads, — roads which crossed 
from Markham to Chester Gap, from Thornton’s 
Gap to Warrenton. 

There was a rickety old house, once a tavern, 
where travellers from the valley to Warrenton 
and Alexandria found refreshment for themselves 
and food for their horses. But now grass was 
growing in the roads. There were old hats 
and cast-off garments in the windows. ‘The roof 
was falling in; and there were props against the 
sides of the house to keep it from falling flat to ~ 
the ground. The few farm-houses around were 
also tumbling down. Energy, enterprise, and 
industry had fled from the place; and it was as 
if the curse of God was upon it and upon the 
whole State. The people were reaping the in- 
evitable reward which sooner or later must, 
according to the immutable laws of nature, come 
upon those who deliberately and systematically 
raise slaves for sale, as they would cattle, horses, — 
sheep, and pigs. 


THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 305 


Stuart’s Position. The Barricade. Pleasanton’s Position. 


Stuart placed three of his guns under the locust- 
trees, which shaded the road west of the old 
tavern. There were two more guns on a knoll, 
east of the tavern and south of it, hidden from 
sight, but so placed, that if Pleasanton charged 
down the turnpike, he would be cut to pieces 
by grape and canister. Stuart thought to get 
Pleasanton into a trap. He erected a barricade 
in the road behind a knoll, which Pleasanton 
could not see. He piled up wagons, rails, 
ploughs, harrows, boxes, and barrels. If Pleas- 
anton charged, he would bring up against the 
barricade, where he would be. destroyed by the 
cross-fire of the batteries. 

But Pleasanton was cautious as well as coura- . 
geous. He came into position half a mile dis- 
tant, and opened a fire which cut down the locust- 
trees, tore through the old tavern, and made it 
more thaneveraruin. He kept three hundred 
men in the road sheltered by a hill, and out of 
Stuart’s sight, ready for a charge, and deployed a 
squadron of the Highth Illinois, the Highth New 
York, and a portion of the Sixth Regulars in the 
fields on the right-hand side of the road, keeping 
them mounted. They faced south. He dismount- 
ed the remainder of the Sixth Regulars, who 
left their horses in the woods, and moved round 
upon Stuart’s left, east of the old tavern. They 


saw the barricade, and told Pleasanton what they 
T 


306 THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 


The Charge. Stuart retreats. 


had discovered. They commenced a sharp fire, 
to which Stuart replied. He weakened his force 
behind the locust-trees, and sent reinforcements 
to his right to hold in check the dismounted | 
Regulars. 

Suddenly the bugles on Pleasanton’s right 
sounded a charge. The men drew their sabres. 
The sharp, shrill music set their blood in mo- 
tion. It thrilled them. 

‘¢ Forward ! ”’ 

Away they dashed. The three hundred men 
filing from the road into the field on the right, 
deploying into line, wheeling, then, with a hur- 
rah, with a trampling of hoofs which shook the 
earth, increasing from a trot to a gallop, they fell 
upon Stuart’s left. The Rebels fired their carbines. 

The Rebel artillerymen under the locust-trees 
wheeled their guns towards the northwest, but 
before they could fire, the three hundred were 
upon them. Instead of firing, the cannoneers 
leaped upon their horses, and made all haste to 
escape. They succeeded in carrying off their 
guns, but left twenty-two prisoners in the hands 
of Pleasanton. 

The affair did not last more than twenty min- 
utes, but it was the most brilliant of all the oper- 
ations of the cavalry connected with the army of 
the Potomac up to that date,—the 6th of No- 
vember, 1862. 


THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 307 


‘oe 
Foraging. A Virginia Foeman. His Turkeys disappear. 


The orders which General McClellan had is- 
sued to the army forbade the soldiers to forage. 
If supplies were wanted, the quartermasters and 
commissaries would supply them. Notwith- 
standing the order, however, the soldiers man- 
aged to have roast chickens and turkeys, and 
delicious mutton-chops, legs of veal, and pork- 
steaks. At night, there was stewing, frying, and 
roasting by the bivouac fires. 

One night, I found lodgings with a farmer. 
He had a large farm, a great barn, and well-filled 
granary. Fat turkeys roosted in the trees around 
his stables, and a flock of sheep ee the clover 
of his fields. 

He was a secessionist. ‘¢I was for the Union 
till the President called for seventy-five thousand 
men to put down the rebellion, as he calls it,” 
said he. 

‘¢ Why did you become a secessionist then ? ” 

‘Because that was interfering with State 
rights. The government has no right to coerce 
a State. So, when Virginia seceded, I went with 
her.” 

We were sitting by the cheerful fire in his 
kitchen. The evening was stealing on. There 
was a squeaking among his poultry. We went 
out, and were in season to see the dusky forms 
of men in blue moving towards the camp-fires. 
Every turkey had disanpeared. 


308 THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 


His Sheep. How the Soldiers helped the Negroes. 


‘‘T notice that you have a fine flock of sheep 
yonder,” I said. 

“ Yes, sir, seventy Southdowns. One of the 
best flocks in the Old Dominion. 

‘¢ J am afraid you will find some of them miss- 
ing in the morning.” 

‘YT will get them into the barn,” he said. 
‘“¢ Here, you lazy niggers! Peter, John, Sam, — 
turn out and get up the sheep! ”’ | 

He had twenty or more negroes. Those who 
were called started to get the sheep. 

A half dozen soldiers appeared in the field. 

‘‘ We will help you get up your sheep,” they 
said. 

The flock came slowly towards the fold, driven 
by the soldiers. 

‘¢ Sho o!” they suddenly shouted and 
made a rush forward. The sheep scattered 
everywhere, disappearing in the darkness, fol- 
lowed by the soldiers, laughing and chuckling, 
leaving the negroes and the farmer astonished 
and amazed. It was too dark to collect them 
again. 

Morning came. The flock had disappeared. 
The nearest encampment was that of a regiment 
of Zouaves. The farmer, raving over his loss, 
visited it, and saw seventy sheep-skins lying 
behind the wall near the encampment. He 
called upon the Colonel of the regiment, who 
received him with courtesy. 


THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 809 


The Farmer’s Visit to Camp. He Visits the Fifth New Hampshire. 


“ Colonel,” he said, ‘‘ I see that your soldiers 
have killed my flock of sheep, and I want pay for 
them.” 

‘* You are mistaken, sir. The orders are very 
strict against taking anything. The quarter- 
master and commissary alone can forage. I do 
not allow any marauding.” 

*¢ Well, sir, whether you allow it or not, they 
have stolen my sheep.” 

“J will see about that, sir. If I find that my 
men have been marauding, I will have them pun- 
ished,’ said the Colonel. The regiment was 
ordered to appear on parade. The men were 
questioned, and all denied having killed any 
sheep. The camp was searched, but no saddles 
of mutton were discovered. 

“It must have been some other regiment, 
sir, who committed the depredation,” said the 
Colonel. 

The farmer visited the next regiment, the 
Fifth New Hampshire, commanded by Colonel 
Cross. 

‘*T come to see, sir, if it was your soldiers who 
stole my sheep last night,’ said the farmer. 

“Impossible, sir. It could n’t have been the 
soldiers of this regiment. My men are from New 
Hampshire, sir, —the Old Granite State, — the 
State of Daniel Webster and Franklin Pierce. 
My soldiers would scorn to do a mean thing, sir. 


~ 310 THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 


Colonel Cross. Mutton for Dinner. Talk with a Soldier. 


They come from a moral community. They are 
above suspicion, sir,” said Colonel Cross. 

‘¢ Will you have the camp searched, Colonel ?” 

“T could not think of such a thing, sir. I should 
wrong the men. I would not have them think 
that I suspected them, sir. If an officer is con- 
tinually suspecting his men they lose confidence 
in him. It never would do to let them mistrust 
that I had a doubt of their honor.” 

The farmer visited other regiments, but with 
no better success. He could not find out who 
had taken the sheep. The evidence was all 
against the Zouaves, the pelts being in their en- 
campment. 

At noon I dined with Colonel Cross. We sat 
around the camp-chest, which was our table. 
There was a saddle of mutton, hot, juicy, tender, 
and savory. 

“My cook has a wonderful faculty of finding 
mutton, chickens, and pigs,’ said the Colonel, 
“but I obey the injunction of the apostle Paul, to 
eat what is set before me, asking no questions for 
conscience’ sake.” As I passed through the camp, 
on my way to the Colonel’s quarters, I saw that 
the soldiers generally were dining on mutton. 

‘“¢ You live well,” I said to a soldier. 

‘Yes, sir. I found a leg of mutton last night. 
Strange, wasn’t it?” 

He chuckled merrily and looked knowingly. 


THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 311 


The Joke on the Zouayes. The Blacksmith’s Shop. Sitting on the Forge. 


“Til tell you how it was,” said he. ‘The 
Zouaves played a joke on us a while ago, so last 
night we paid them. We knocked over the 
sheep and divided the spoil. We kept the car- 
casses and left them the pelts. That was fair, 
was n’t it.” He chuckled again as he thought of 
the fun of the thing. “Of course the Colonel 
and the other officers don’t know anything about 
it. They never smell round through the camp.” 
He laughed again. 

Thus the soldiers had their fun and their fresh 
provisions, notwithstanding the orders from head- 
quarters. Few of the officers thought it worth 
while to inquire of the soldiers where they pur- 
chased their chickens, turkeys, and mutton. 

The next day was cold, raw, and snowy, —an 
unusual day in the Old Dominion. The forests 
were in russet and yellow, for the leaves had not 
fallen. Winter had ushered itself prematurely 
into the presence of retiring Autumn. The driv- 
ing storm shut the Blue Ridge from sight. My 
horse had lost his shoes. I found a blacksmith- 
shop built of logs. While the smith was putting 
on the shoes, I sat upon the forge warming my 
feet. The wind was high, and swept through the 
forest with a wild, surging roar, and came into 
the shop through the cracks and crevices, drown- 
ing the roar of the bellows. The snow-flakes 
sifted through the crazy roof, which had lost 


$12 THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 


The Smitk. 


nearly half its time-worn shingles. Let the read- 
er sit by my side on an old box, and take a look 
at the blacksmith. 

He is fifty years old. We are reminded of 
the village blacksmith described by Longfellow, 
whose shop was beneath a spreading chestnut- 
tree. 

‘«‘ His hair is crisp, and black, and long, 
His face is like the tan ; 
His brow is wet with honest sweat, 
He earns whate’er he can, 
And looks the whole world in the face, 
For he owes not any man.” 


While fitting the shoes he gives a little of his 
experience in life. He has been a blacksmith 
thirty-five years. Last year, unassisted by any 
one, in this little dingy shop, he earned about 
eleven hundred dollars; this year, he thinks it 
will be about thirteen hundred! The farmers 
hereabouts like his work. When we rode up, he 
was fitting the axles of a two-horse wagon. Heis . 
an excellent horse-shoer, can set wagon-tires, and 
do all sorts of handy things. His business with 
the farmers is a credit-business, but he has many 
cash customers. His wife and his young children 
live at Salem, four miles distant. He lives an 
isolated life. He takes his meals at a little log hut 
near by, with a free negro, but sleeps in the shop. 
Summer and winter he sleeps here, lying on the 


THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 313 


The Proprietor. What the Blacksmith earned. 


bare ground in summer, and curling up upon 
the warm cinders of the forge in winter. There 
is his bed, an old blanket. To-night, when 
his day’s work is done, he will wrap himself in 
it, and lie down to refreshing sleep. Saturday 
night he goes home to Salem to see his wife, and 
returns at daylight on Monday. So he has lived 
for fourteen years. A singular life, but not a 
voluntary one. No. He isa slave! His owner 
lives down there, in that large white farm-house, 
with numerous out-buildings. Looking through 
between the logs of the shop, I can see the propri- 
etor of this blood, bones, and brains; an old man, 
white-haired, walking with a cane about his sta- 
bles, looking out for the comfort of his four-legged 
cattle on this snowy day. For thirty years has 
this man before me wielded the hammer, and 
made the anvil ring with his heavy strokes for 
his master; a thousand dollars a year has been 
the aggregate earnings. Thirty thousand dollars 
earned! of course it is not net earnings, but 
so much business done by one man, who has re- 
ceived nothing in return. Thirty thousand dol- 
lars’ worth of unrequited labor. His wife is a 
slave, and his children are slaves, sold South, 
some of them. He will behold them no more. 
One has taken himself up North into freedom, 
and one daughter is singing of freedom in the 


presence of God. 
14 


314 THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 


How the Blacksmith lived. 


‘¢ How much business do you do a year, uncle ?”’ 

“Last year I earned between ten and eleven 
hundred dollars; but this year it will be about 
thirteen hundred.” 

‘‘Of course your master gives you a liberal 
share of what you earn.” 

‘‘ Not a cent, sir. I gets nothing only what 
the gentlemen gives me. I have worked hard, 
sir, and master says if I take good care of the tools 
and shop, he will give ’em to me when he dies, so 
I takes good care of ’em.” 

‘¢ How old is your master ? ” 

‘* He is seventy years old.” 

“J should think, when so many negroes are 
running away, you would want to get your free- 
dom, for fear they would sell you down South.” 

“‘T told my master I would always stay with 
him, and so he has promised to give me the tools.” 

“JT should think you would like to be where 
you could live with your wife.” 

‘‘ Yes, I would, sir; but they don’t think of a 
man’s feelings here. We ain’t no more than their 
stock, sir! They abuse us, ’cause they’s got the 
power.” 

‘‘'You have some money, have n’t you, uncle ?” 

“Yes, se got about three hundred dollars. 
-About fifty dollars is Southern confederate 
money. Tse mighty oneasy about that. ’Fraid 
I shall lose it. The rest isin Virginia bank notes. 
I’se been saving it this long while.”’ 


THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 315 


The Rebel Soldiers. 


** Don’t you find it rather hard times ?”’ 

“ Mighty hard, sir. Hain’t had no sugar nor 
coffee this long while. One of your soldiers gave 
me a spoonful of sugar yesterday. You’se got a 
mighty fine army,sir. There’s more good clothes 
in one regiment that went by yesterday, than in 
the entire Southern army.” 

‘Then you have seen the Southern army ?”’ 

‘*¢Q yes, General Walker’s division went down 
a week ago to-day, and Longstreet went down a 
week ago day before yesterday.” 

This was important information, for all of my 
previous inquiries of white residents upon the 
matter, had brought only unsatisfactory replies. 

‘¢ Walker’s division, you say, was n’t very well 
clothed ?”’ 

‘No, sir; they was miserably clothed. Lots 
on ’em was barefoot. One on ’em offered me 
six dollars for these ere shoes I’se got on, and I 
pitied him so, I was a good mind to let him have 
’em; then I thought may be I could n’t get an- 
other pair. I was ’fraid he would suffer.” 

‘¢T should think, uncle, you would be lonesome 
here, nights.”’ 

“O,I’se got used toit. It was kind of lone- 
some, at first, but I don’t have anybody to trouble 
me, and so I gets along first-rate.” 

While he shaped the shoes and fastened them 
upon the feet of the horse with a dexterity equal 


316 THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 


A Revery. The March to Warrenton. 


to that of any New England blacksmith, I fell 
into revery. There was the smith — stout, 
hale, hearty, earning a handsome fortune for his 
master —robbed of his wages, of his wife, his 
children, less cared for than the dumb beasts seek- 
ing the shelter of the stables in the storm, —a 
human being with a soul to be saved, with capa- 
bilities of immortal life, of glory unspeakable 
with the angels, with Jesus, God, and all the 
society of heaven, and yet, in the estimation of 
every white man in the slave states and one half 
of the population of the free states, he has no 
rights which a white man is bound to respect! 
Men forget that justice is the mightiest power in 
the universe. There is judgment for every crime, 
and retribution for every wrong. The wheels of 
justice never stand still, but turn forever. There- 
fore there are vacant places by many firesides, 
and aching voids in many a heart, and wounds 
which time can never heal. 


REMOVAL OF GENERAL McCLELLAN. 


It was a pleasant march from Harper’s Ferry 
to Warrenton. The roads were in excellent 
condition ; dry and hard. The troops were in 
good spirits ;.living on turkeys, chickens, pigs, 
and mutton. They marched ten or twelve 
miles a day, built roaring fires at night, and en- 


THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. Sit 


The Messenger. General McClellan relieved of the Command. 


joyed the campaign. The army was a week in 
reaching Warrenton. General McClellan was 
waited upon there by a messenger from Washing- 
ton, who delivered him a sealed envelope contain- 
ing orders relieving him of the command of the 
army and appointing General Burnside as his 
successor. The matter was soon noised abroad. 
There was much discussion upon the subject, 
relative to the cause of the removal. Some 
officers said that the Government wanted to 
destroy the army, and had begun with General 
McClellan ; others that the President, General 
Halleck, and Secretary Stanton were afraid of 
General McClellan’s popularity ; others, that they 
were wearied with his delays, and that there were 
no political reasons for the change. 

The reasons for the removal undoubtedly have 
been truly stated by Mr. Montgomery Blair, who 
was at that time a member of the President’s 
cabinet, that the President was friendly to General 
McUlellan, but the military authorities at Wash- 
ington and many of the officers of the army were 
hostile to him. They held that his delay to attack 
the Rebels at Manassas in the fall and winter; the 
delay at Yorktown; the keeping the army in the 
swamps of the Chickahominy ; the operations on 
the Peninsula, showed conclusively that the com- 
mand ought to pass into other hands. 

The President resisted all the importunities of 


318 THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 


Reasons why McClellan was removed. What the Soldiers thought. 


those who desired his removal when the affairs 
were so disastrous in front of Washington. The 
success at Antietam gave the President new con- 
fidence, but the failure to renew the attack with 
his reserves ; the refusal of McClellan to cross 
the Potomac and attack Lee; his long delay at 
Berlin and Harper’s Ferry, gave great dissatis- 
faction. ‘These were the causes of his removal.* 
General McClellan was much loved by a por- 
tion of his troops. When he rode along the 
lines for the last time, they cheered him. Some 
could not refrain from shedding tears. They be- 
lieved that he was a good man, and that he had 
been thwarted in all his plans by General Halleck, 
Secretary Stanton, the President, and members 
of Congress; and that if he could have had his 
own way, he would have won great victories. 
There were other soldiers who did not join in 
_ the cheers. They rejoiced at his removal and the 
appointment of General Burnside. They felt that 
he had failed as a commander, and that he was in- 
competent to command a great army. They re- 
membered their hardships, privations, sufferings, 
and losses on the Peninsula; they recalled the fact, 
that while the battle was raging at Malvern, he 
was on board a gun-boat. Perhaps they did not 
fully weigh all the circumstances of the case — that 
it was necessary for him to consult Commodore 


* Speech at Ellicott’s Mills, 1864. 


THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 319 


Different Opinions. The Soldiers by their Camp-Fires. 


Rogers relative to joint operations of the army 
and navy; but it looked like cowardice. General 
Kearney, the idol of his division, then sleeping in 
a soldier’s grave, had declared it to be cowardice 
or treason; and the soldiers who had fought 
under the command of one who had been in the 
battle-clouds on the heights of Chepultepec and 
on the plains of Solferino, who had dashed like 
a lion upon the enemy at Williamsburg, Fair 
Oaks, Glendale, and Groveton, were not likely to 
forget the sentiments of one so brave and brill- 
jant as he. 

In all the battles of the Peninsula, they could 
not remember that General McClellan had been 
upon the field. When Fair Oaks was fought, he 
was north of the Chickahominy ; when Lee with 
his whole army approached Gaines’s Mills, he re- 
moved to the south side of the river. He passed 
White-oak Swamp before the enemy came to 
Savage Station. He was at Malvern when they 
appeared at Glendale, and on board the gun-boat 
when they came to Malvern. They did not con- 
sider that he rode to Malvern once during the 
day. Sitting by their camp-fires, the soldiers 
talked over the matter. There was no disaffec- 
tion. They were too good soldiers to make any 
demonstration of disapprobation. Besides, Gene- 
ral Burnside had been successful at Roanoke, 
Newbern, and South Mountain ; and success 
gives confidence. 


320 THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 


The Pcople impatient. — 


The soldiers were in earnest in carrying on the 
war. ‘The people were impatient at the delays 
of General McClellan in the east, and General 
Buell in the west. 

Riding from the east to the west and back 
again in the cars, after the battle of Antietam, I 
had an opportunity to know how the people were 
affected by the war. It was the last week in Oc- 
tober. The mountains were purple, scarlet, and 
crimson, and had it not been that there was war 
in the land, one might have dreamed that he was 
in Hden,—so beautiful the landscape, so re- 
splendent the days. But there were sad scenes. 
A mother bidding farewell to her son, the wife 
to her husband, the father to his children, taking 
them in his arms, perhaps, for the last time, dash- 
ing aside the tears, kissing them again and again, . 
folding them to his heart, tearing himself away 
at last, sitting down by himself and weeping, 
while the swift train bore them away. It was 
not for military glory, not for honor, or fame, but 
for his country! 

I saw an old man, whose head was crowned with 
years. He was on his way to Washington, to 
take back with him to his Pennsylvania home 
the body of his youngest son, who had died in 
the hospital. He had three other sons in the 
army. He was calm, yet a tear rolled down his 
cheek as he talked of his loss. 


THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 321 


oe oe at ee ee ee ee ee ee 
What an old Man said. The two Mothers. What they said. 


“T shall take the body home, and bury it in 
the family ground. I shall miss my boy. But 
I gave him to the country. I want the govern- 
ment to push on the war. I want our generals 
to move. I want this rebellion crushed out,” he 
said. . 

The stout-hearted Pennsylvania farmer left 
the car, and a lady sat in the seat he had occu- 
pied by my side. 

She, too, was advanced in life. She had tray- 
elled all day, was sick and weary, but she had 
received a letter that one of her sons was dying at 
Frederick. He had been wounded at Antietam, 
—shot through the breast. She had three sons; 
two in the army, and one, a little one, at home. 

‘““T am a widow,” she said. | ‘* My husband 
was a sea-captain, and was lost at sea years ago. 
My boys supported me. When the war broke 
out, they wanted to go, and I couldn’t say no. 
Joseph, the youngest, is not old enough to be a 
soldier; if he was, he would be with them. I 
should like to see my son once more. I hope 
God will spare him till I get there ; but I am not 
sorry I let him go.” 

Opposite sat a well-dressed lady from Philadel- 
phia. She had received a message, ‘* Your son 
is dying; come quick if you would see him.”’ 

Tears were dropping from her eyelids. The 


train was not swift enough. 
14* U 


He THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 


Sorrow in the Land. The Change in the People. 


‘‘ Why don’t they go faster ?”’ she impatiently 
asked. She had a basket with wine, cordials, and 
delicacies. 

“TI thought I would take them, for if he don’t 
want them, somebody will.” 

The two mothers, the one poor, earning her 
living by her needle, now that her brave boys 
were in the army; the other rich, able to have 
all that money can purchase, sat down together, 
and talked of their hopes and fears, both longing 
to clasp their loved ones to their hearts once 
more. There was no complaining, no regret 
that they had given their consent when their 
sons asked if they might enlist. 

There was sorrow all over the land, for loved 
ones who had fallen at Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, 
Glendale, and Malvern, for those who were sleep- 
ing beside the Chickahominy, and for those who 
reposed beneath the shadow of South Mountain, 
and on the field of Antietam. 

But a great change was going on in the minds 
of men. They had said: “ We will have the 
Union as it was, and the Constitution as it is,” 
not discerning that it was a war of moral ele- 
ments, a contest between right and wrong, justice 
and injustice, freedom and slavery, civilization 
and barbarism. 

But they began to discern that the elements of 
the contest were the rights of men, and God’s eter- 


THE MARCH TO WARRENTON. 323 


Immutable Laws. Trust in God. 


nal laws; that the armies of the Union were serv- 
ing in the cause which had inspired Leonidas at 
Thermopyle, and Miltiades at Marathon ; that the 
reveille which waked the soldier from his slum- 
ber was the drum-beat of all ages; that they 
were moving, not by the force of men’s wills, not 
by opinions or acts of men in-positions of honor 
and power, but by the resistless propulsion of 
God’s immutable, changeless, eternal laws, which 
wither, blast, and destroy, when resisted, but 
which are as the dews of the morning, like sweet 
summer showers, vivifying, strengthening and 
sustaining, when accepted and obeyed. — 

They mourned for the fallen, but they felt that 
they had lived for a great purpose, and had not 
died in vain. With defeat and disappointment 
there came a sublimer trust in God. There was 
a rekindling of faith and hope, a confidence, — 


«That nothing walks with aimless feet, 
That not one life shall be destroyed, 
Or cast as rubbish to the void, 
When God hath made the pile complete.” 


APPENDIX. 


Organization of the Army of the Potomac. 


HE Army of the Potomac was organized in Octo- 
ber, 1861. There was a reorganization in April, 
1862, and again in August of that year. The organi- 
zation of that portion of the army which fought the 
battles of the Peninsula is annexed; also those troops 
which fought the great battle of Antietam. By means 
of this table and the accompanying diagrams the reader 
will be able to ascertain-in most instances the positions 
of the several regiments, — not their exact locality, for 
regiments in battle are often detached to other parts 
of the field, as reserves, pickets, skirmishers, or guards. 
The troops which took part in the battles of the 
Peninsula were the Second Corps (Sumner’s), Third 
Corps (Heintzelman’s), Fourth Corps (Keyes’s), and 
Franklin’s and McCall’s divisions of the First Corps 
(McDowell’s). McCall joined the army when it was 
on the Chickahominy. Shields’s division of the Fifth 
Corps (Banks’s) was sent to the Peninsula after the 
retreat to Harrison’s Landing. It took no part-in ac- 
tive operations there. , 
In the reorganization after the battle of Groveton 
and the retreat of Pope’s army to Washington, the 
army was composed of six corps, as described p. 203. 


326 APPENDIX. 


Organization of the Army of the Potomac. 


Many of the troops which had fought on the Peninsula 
were left at Alexandria, and other troops — Burnside’s, 
from North Carolina; Sherman’s, from Port Royal ; 
Cox’s, from Western Virginia ; new troops which had 
been but a few days in the service, and regiments 
from Wadsworth’s command at Washington — were put 
in to fill their places. 

It has not been possible to obtain a complete and 
correct list of all the regiments engaged in that battle. 
Some regiments, after the battle of South Mountain, 
were detached from their brigades, and sent on special 
service; others were kept in the rear, to guard the 
trains; others were sent on flank movements. But 
much care has been taken in the description of that 
battle to give the exact position of the divisions en- 
gaged, and also the brigades, so that it will be compara- 
tively easy to ascertain the general position of most of 
the regiments. 


ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY OF THE 
POTOMAC, APRIL, 1862. 


CAVALRY RESERVE. BRIG.-GEN. P. ST. G. COOKE. 


Emory’s Brigade. Blake’s Brigade. 
5th U. S. Cavalry. Ist U. S. Cavalry. 
6th “ i 8th Penn. “ 
6th Penn, 0 Barker’s Squadron, Ill. Cavalry. 


ARTILLERY RESERVE. COL. HENRY J. HUNT. 


Graham’s Battery “K” & “G” Ist U.S. 6 Napoleon ear 
Randal’s rn en” Ist “ 36 . 


APPENDIX. 327 


Organization of the Army of the Potomac. 


Carlisle’s Battery “E” 2d U.S. 6 20-pds. Parrott guns. 
Robertson’s “ 2d ‘“ 63-in. ordnance ‘ 
Benson’s 66 “mM” Wd “« 6 « « ‘ 
Tidball’s " a. Oe 2 “ 6 « ‘ ‘ 


Edwards’s “ “L”&“M” 3d “ 6 10-pds. Parrott ‘“ 
Gibson’s “— “C"*&"*G? 3d “ 6 8-in. ordnance ~~ 
Livingston’s “ “EF” &“K” 3d “ 410-pds. Parrott “ 


Howe’s Ls Soe 4th “ 6 Napoleon by 
De Russy’s “ a” 4th. 5% G bh << 
Weed’s on hah Re 5th “ 68-in. ordnance “ 
Smead’s by be Ue 5th “ 4 Napoleon ¢. 
Ames’s “ “ A ” 5th “ 6 1 4 10-pds. Parr. “ss 
2 Napoleon 
Diederick’s “ ‘“A”N. Y. Art. Batt’n 6 20-pds. Parrott ‘ 
Voegelie’s “ ce B ” “cc ‘ce “cc 4 “cc ce ce 
Knieriem’s “cc cc C ”? “cc “sé 6c 4 it3 iT 4 cé 


Grimm ’s sales? dD Rei Mel at ae “6 32-pds. Howitzers. 


100 guns. 


VOLUNTEER ENGINEER TROOPS. GEN. WOODBURY. 


15th New York Volunteers. 
50th “cc “e se 
REGULAR ENGINEER TROOPS. CAPT. DUANE. 
Companies “A,” “B,” and ‘“C,” U. S. Engineers. 


ARTILLERY TROOPS WITH SIEGE TRAIN. 
lst Connecticut Heavy Artillery. Col. Tyler. 


SECOND CORPS. GEN. SUMNER. 
Cavalry. 


8th Illinois Cavalry. Col. Farnsworth. 
One Squadron 6th New York Cavalry. 


328 APPENDIX. 
Organization of the Army of the Potomac. 


RICHARDSON’S DIVISION. 


Artillery. 
Clark’s Battery “A” & “C” 4th U.S. 6 Napoleon guns. 
Frank’s “ Se Ist N. Y. 6 10-pds. Parrott guns. 
Pettit’s  “ — Bi Tease Gaal “ a 
Hogan’s c“ “ A ”? 9d « 6 ce ce ics 
Infantry. 


Howard’s Brigade. | Meagher’s Brigade. French’s Brigade. 
5th N. H. Vols. 69th N. Y. Vols. 52d N. Y. Vols. © 


8ist Penn. ‘ 63d “ 57th * “ 
6st N.Y.“ ssh “« “ 66th « « 
64th “ 53d Penn. “ 


SEDGWICK’S DIVISION. 


Artillery. 
Kirby’s Battery “I”? lst U.S. 6 Napoleon guns. 


Tompkin’s “ “A” Ist R. I. 6 } 4 10-pds. Parrott * uns 
2 12-pds. Howitzers 


Bartlet’s “ “B” Ist “ 6}* 10-pds. Parrott ! 
2 12-pds. Howitzers 


Owen’s « «qG” —— _ 63-in. ordnance guns. 
Infantry. 
Gorman’s Brigade. Burns's Brigade. Dana’s Brigade. 
2d N. Y. S. M. 69th Penn. Vols. 19th Mass. Vols. 
15th Mass. Vols. Tiscep* cs 7th Mich. os 
34th N.Y. “ fT: pg - 42d N. Y. Ke 
Ist Minn. ce 106th “ Ee 20th Mass. “* 


Note. — Blenker’s division detached and assigned to the Moun- 
tain Department. 


THIRD CORPS. GEN, HEINTZELMAN. 


Cavalry. 
3d Pennsylvania Cavalry. Col. Averill. 


APPENDIX. 329 
¢ , Organization of the Army of the Potomac. 
PORTER’S DIVISION. 


Artillery. 


Griffin’s Battery “K” 5th U.S. 6 10-pds. Parrott guns, 
Weeden’s “ “CC” RI. — ae aS 


Maerons " ‘O" Mass: 6 Napoleon guns. 
Allen’s pea mae peed Ma. 6 3-in. ordnance guns. 
Infantry. 

Martindale’s Brigade. Morell’s Brigade.  Butterfield’s Brigade. 
2d Maine Vols. 14th N. Y. Vols. 17th N. Y. Vols. 
18th Mass. ‘‘ 4th Mich. “ 83d Penn. “ 
22d0 = 9th Mass. ‘“ 44th NY. 
SSNs: Yeon S 62d Penn. “ Stockton’s Michigan. 
Tstha % Ms 12th N. Y. Vols. 


Ist Berdan Sharpshooters. 


HOOKER’S DIVISION. 
Artillery. 


Hall’s Battery “H” Ist U.S. 6 mi Dees SILO es f uns. 


2 12-pds. Howitzers 


Smith’s “ 4th N. Y. Battery 6 10-pds. Parrott ee 

Bramhall’s “6th  ‘“ ff 6 3-in. ordnance ‘f 

Osborn’s ““D” IstN.Y.Arty. 4 “ . ui 
Infantry. 

Sickles’s Brigade. Grover’s Brigade. Col. Starr’s Brigade. 
Ist Excelsior (N. Y.) 1st Mass. Vols. 5th N. J. Vols. 
9d ‘6 “ce : 1 lth “cc “cr 6th “ “ 
3d i J 26th Penn. “ T thy. nei 
Ath > a iy 2a. N..H.» is Sth wk Sate: 
5th “ « : 

KEARNY’S DIVISION. 
Artillery. 
Thompson’s Battery “G” 2d U. S. 6 Napoleon guns. 
Beam’s “ “BN, J. 6 } 4 10-pds. Parrott guns. 
2 Napoleon 


330 


APPENDIX. 


Organization of the Army of the Potomac. . 


Randolph’s Battery “E” R. I. 6 } 


Jameson’s Brigade. 
105th Penn. Vols. 


63d if3 “ee 
57th ce ce 
&7th N. Y. = 


Infantry. 
Birney’s Brigade. 
38th N. Y. Vols. 


40th ce ce 
3d Maine os 
4th “ ce 


4 10-pds. Parrott 
2 Napoleon 


guns. 


Berry’s Brigade. 
2d Mich. Vols. 
8d ins ce 
5th ce a3 
Sith Ne veeee 


FOURTH CORPS. GEN. KEYES. 


McCarthy’s Battery “ C” Ist Penn. 
6“ D vy lst “<c 6 
“ E ay lst ce 

Eu eth ae 


Flood’s ee 
Miller’s 3s 
Brady’s «7 


Infantry. 

Graham’s * Brigade. Peck’s Brigade. Devens’s Brig. 
67th N.Y. Vols. (1st L. I.) 98th Penn.Vols. 2d R.I. Vols. 
65th <“ ‘s” (Ist U. SeChas,) 102d -*< = Vth Masa 
23d Penn. “ O50 a, se 1Oth tee 
Blateasc are 62d N.Y.) fs iseth Novae 
bist BSth vacates 

SMITH’S DIVISION. 
Artillery. 
Ayre’s Battery “F” 5th U.S. 6 } AL O-PS. amor , guns. 
2 Napoleon 
Mott’s <“ 3d N.Y. Battery 6 | 4 10-pds. Parrott ; « 
2 Napoleon 
Wheeler’s * ‘“E” Ist N. Y. 4 3-in. ordnance 4s 


Kennedy’s “‘ 


Cavalry. 


COUCH’S DIVISION. 


Artillery. 


Ist N. Y. Battery’ 6  “ 


4 10-pds. Parrott guns. 


“ ce 


4 Napoleon HM 
410-pds. Parrott “ 


“ « 


* In General McClellan’s report of the battle of Fair Oaks, he calls this brig- 
ade ‘* Abercrombie’s,’? — evidently a mistake. 


APPENDIX. 


331 


Organization of the Army of the Potomac. 


Hancock’s Brigade. 


5th Wis. Vols. 
49th Penn. “ 
aa. XY. 
6th Maine “ 


Infantry. 


Brooks's Brigade. 
2d Vermont Vols. 


3d - ae 
4th - 
otha “ 
Gtk, a's s 


CASEY’S DIVISION. 


Artillery. 


Regan’s Battery 7th N. Y. Battery 


Fitch’s be 8th 
“A” Ist N. Y. Art’y 6 Napoleon 
if 9 H » Ist ce “ce 


Bates’s 2 
Spratt’s ‘“ 


Wessel’s Brigade. 
85th Penn. Vols. 
1Olat “ “9 
103d “cc “cc 
96th N.Y. “ 


“cc if3 


Infantry. 
Palmer’s Brigade. 
85th N. Y. Vols. 
98th if “ 
92d cc ifs 
8lst ity ics 
93d ce a4 


4 3-in. ordnance 


Davidson’s Brigade. 


33d N. Y¥. Vols. 
77th “c cs 
49th ce “ce 
7th Maine “ 


6 3-in. ordnance guns. 


it 6é “<é 


ity 


Naglee’s Brigade. 


104th Penn. Vols. 
52d “cc ce 
56th N. Y. 4 
100th ‘ - 
llth Maine fe 


PROVOST GUARD. 


2nd U. S. Cavalry. 
Battalion 8th and 17th U. S. Infantry. 


AT GENERAL HEAD-QUARTERS. 


2 Cos. 4th U. S. Cavalry. 1 Co. Oneida Cav. (N. Y. Vols.) 
1 Co. Sturgis Rifles (Ill. Vols.) 


FIRST CORPS. GEN. McDOWELL. 


Cavalry. 


4th New York Cavalry. 
Ist Pennsylvania ‘“ 


Ist New York Cavalry. 
9d ““ “e 


332 APPENDIX. 


Organization of the Army of the Potomac. 


Sharpshooters. 
2d Regiment Berdan’s Sharpshooters. 


FRANKLIN’S DIVISION. 


Artillery. 
Platt’s Battery ““D” 2d U. S. 6 Napoleon guns. 
Porter’s “ “A” Mass. 6 4 10-pds. P ana 
2 12-pds. Howitzers 
Hexamer’s* “A” NJ. Rinteg aah ety) & 
2 12-pds. Howitzers 
Wilson’s “ “F” Ist N. Y. Art’y 4 3-in. ordnance 43 
Infantry. 


Kearny’s* Brigade. Slocum’s Brigade. | Newton’s Brigade. 
Ist N. J. Vols. 16th N. Y. Vols. 18th N. Y. Vols. 


9d ce ce 97th “ec cc 8lst ce ce 
SY) Ey led a 5th Maine ‘“ 32d - «f 
ach wf id 96th Penn. ‘“‘ 95th Penn. ‘“ 


McCALL’S DIVISION. 


Artillery. 
Seymour’s Battery “C” 5th U.S. 6 Napoleon guns. 
Eaton’s oe tA SSG Ee OLIN: 4 * iw 
Cooper’s “« “B” Ist “ 610-pds. Parrott guns. 
einta 0 OCI, TEE ES Ee { 2 10-pds. Parrott , 
4 12-pds. Howitzers 
Infantry. 
Reynolds’s Brigade.  Meade’s Brigade. Ord’s Brigade. 


lst Penn. Res. Reg’t. 3d Penn. Res. Reg’t. 6th Penn. Res. Reg’t. 
9d ce “ ¢é Ath ce «¢ ce 9th “ ce ce 
5th it3 “cc « 7th ifs «é ce 10th ity “ «ec 
8th ‘e ce ‘ec llth “cc te it 3 12th cc ia3 ce 

1 Penn. Res. Rifles. 


' 


* Kearny was appointed division commander of the Third Corps (Heintzel- 
man’s) at the commencement of the Peninsular campaign. 


Yr 


APPENDIX. 333 


Organization of the Army of the Potomac. 


KING’S DIVISION. 


Artillery. 
Gibbon’s Battery “B” 4th U. S. 6 Napoleon guns. 
minmroga yc“ D) Yst Raed: 6 10-pds. Parrott guns. 
Ee Ll Rae iis Bed = © 6 Napoleon my 
Durrell’s ‘“ Penn. 6 10-pds. Parrott “ 
Infantry. 


Brigade. Pairick’s Brigade. Augur’s Brigade. 
2d Wis. Vols. 20th N. Y.S. M. 14th N. Y. S. M. 


6th >* ‘s Dist “= / Vols. 29a 6 **§ Ss Vola. 
7th “ce “ 93d cc “i 24th ce “cc 
19th Ind. “ 25th ‘* ML 80th “ gs 


FIFTH CORPS. GEN. BANKS. 


Cavalry. 
Ist Maine Cavalry. 5th New York Cavalry. 
Ist Vermont “ 8th a sf 
Ist Michigan “ Keyes’s Battal’n Penn. Cavalry. 
Ist R. I. <y 18 Cos. Maryland = 
1 Squadron Virginia . 
Unattached. 


28th Penn. Vols. 4th Reg’t Potom. Home Guard (Maryl. Vols.) 


WILLIAMS’S DIVISION. 


Artillery. 
Best’s Battery “F” 4th U. 8. 6 Napoleon guns. 
Hampton’s “ Maryland 4 10-pds. Parrott guns. 
‘ Thompson’s “ce 14 4 “ec “c “c 
Mathew’s “ “EF” Penn. 6 3-in. ordnance ‘ 
re an ee IN. ds 6 10-pds. Parrott ‘“ 
Knapp’s ‘ Penn. gs Odes ied re = 


McMahon’s** N. Y. 6 3-in. ordnance ae 


334 , APPENDIX. 


Organization of the Army of the Potomac. 


Infantry. 
Abercrombie’s Brigade. — Brigade. —— Brig. 
12th Mass. Vols. 9th N. Y. S. M. 28th N.Y. V. 
2d . es 29th Penn. Vols. 5th Conn. “ 
16th Ind. ce 27th Ind. “ 46th Penn.“ 
lst Potom. Home Brig. (Md. Vols.) 3d Wis. ‘*¢lst.Md-aa™ 
1 Co. Zouav. d’ Afrique (Penn. Vols.) 12th Ind. “ 
13th Mass. “ 
SHIELDS’S DIVISION. 
Artillery. 
Clark’s Battery “E” 4th U.S. 6 10-pds. Parrott guns. 
Jenk’s sy eA ce SERV 6 } 4 10-pds. Parrott * guns. 
f 2 6-pds. 3 
Davy’s Be eis Niet) ai! 2 10-pds. Parrott oh 
Huntington’s* ‘“A” Ist Ohio 6 13-pds. James “ 
Rates a es TLE Vat a 6 } 2 12-pds. Howitzers , - 
4 6-pds. guns 
4th Ohio Infantry 1 6-pds. . 
A Infantry. 
Brigade. Brigade. Brigade. 
14th Ind. Vols. 5th Ohio Vols. 7th Ohio Vols. 
4th Ohio “ o2diers S 29th “ “ 
8th ce é 66th 6c ce 7th “ec “cc 
7th Va. mn 13th Ind. “ Ist Va. ee 
67th Ohio “ 39th Ill. “ 1lth Penn. “ 
84th Penn. “ Andrew Sharpshooters. 


GENERAL WADSWORTH’S COMMAND. 
Cavalry. 
Ist New Jersey Cavalry. At Alexandria. 
4th Pennsylvania “ East of the Capital. 
Artillery and Infantry. 
10th New Jersey Vols. Bladensburg Road. 
104th N. Y. Vols. Kalorama Heights. 


APPENDIX. 8365 


Organization of the Army of the Potomac. 


Ist Wis. Heavy Art’y. Fort “ Cass,” Va. 

3 Batteries N. Y. “ Forts “ Ethan Allen ”&“ Marcy.” 

Depot of N. Y. Light Art’y. Camp “ Barry.” 

2d D. C. Vols. Washington City. 

26th Penn. “ Tite’ Stay hart. 

26th N. Y. “ Fort “‘ Lyon.” 

Som 9 SG. Camp “ Thomas.” 

Pai ees. * Alexandria. 

88th Penn. * (Detachment) a 

ES Sore ll tea Franklin Square Barracks. 

4th N. Y. Art’y Forts “ Carroll” and ‘‘ Greble.” 

112th Penn. Vols. Fort ‘“ Saratoga.” 

76th N. Y. > «< « Massachusetts. 

59th“ ‘ « “ Pennsylvania.” 

88th Penn. ‘ (Detachment) ‘“ ‘ Good Hope.” 

99th ‘“ So Mahan.? 

2d N. Y. Light Art’y Forts ‘‘ Ward,” “ Worth,” and 
** Blenker.” 

107th Penn. Vols. Kendall Green. 

54th “ “ “cc “ 

Dickerson’s Light Art’y East of the Capital. 

86th N. Y. Vols. ze *¢ i 

88th Penn. “ (Detachment) “ e “ 


{ Forts ‘ Albany,” “ Telling- 
14th Mass. “ (Heavy Art’y) hast,” “‘ Richardson,” “‘ Run- 
56th Penn. “ yon,” ‘ Jackson,’ ‘ Bar- 

nard,” “ Craig,” “ Scott.” 
4th U. S. Art’y (Detachment) j Fort ‘“‘ Washington.” 
37th N. Y. Vols. (Detachment). ye ss 


97th “ ss Fort ‘‘ Corcoran.” 
1Olst:** fe 
12th Va. 6 


Sime. Fs. 
IN CAMP NEAR WASHINGTON. 
6th New York Cavalry. Dismounted. 
1th: 4 a ; 
Swaim’s “ ni 
2nd Pennsylvania 


- 


886 «5 APPENDIX. 


Organization of the Army of the Potomac. 


GENERAL DIX’S COMMAND. (BALTIMORE.) 


Cavalry. 
Ist Maryland Cavalry. Detachment of Cav. Purnell Legion. 
‘ Artillery. 
Battery “I” 2d U. S. Artillery. 
“« -— Maryland “ ; 


“ “ZL” Ist New York Artillery. 
2 Independent Batteries Pennsylvania Artillery. 


Infantry. 

3d New York Volunteers. 4, 
4th t3 “ 

11th Pennsylvania ‘“‘ 

87th “ce cé 

1llth £s ad 

2ist Massachusetts ‘“ (Detachment.) 

2d Delaware ad 

2d Maryland - 


Ist Eastern Shore Home Guards (Maryland Volunteers). 


9d “cc ce “cc ‘14 “cc “ 


Purnell Legion u 4 
2 Battalions 


THE END. 


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